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TIIE LIVES 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 

AND OF 


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ARCHBISHOP OF VALENTI A, 


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ST. FRANCIS SOLANO, 


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OF THE ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS. 


“ Gaude Maria Virgo, cunctas htereses sola interemisti in 



NEW YORK: 

EDWARD DUNIGAN, 

151 , FULTON STREET. 

LONDON: THOMAS RICHARDSON AND SON, 

172 , FLEET ST. ; 9 , CAFEL ST. DUBLIN J AND DERBY. 

M. D. CCC. XLVII. 






The Library 
of Congress 


WASHINGTON 


■ 








■ > 


$ 

N‘ 

Ot¬ 


to 

THE REGULAR CLERGY 

OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ENGLAND, 

THE CHILDREN 

OF ST. BENEDICT AND ST. BERNARD, 

ST. DOMINICK AND ST. FRANCIS, 

AND THE SONS 
OF THE HOLY IGNATIUS, 

THE GREAT MASTER OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, 
AND THE NURSING-FATHER OF SAINTS AND MARTYRS, 

WHO, 

IN THE STRAITNESS AND NEGLECT 
OF THEIR UNHONOURED CLOISTERS, 

OR THE CHEERLESS SOLITUDE 
OF THEIR HIRED LODGING, 

HAVE JOYFULLY EMBRACED THE POVERTY OF JESUS, 
AND EARNED BY LOVING ZEAL 

THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM, 

AND WHO, 

THROUGH SCENES OF AWFUL SACRILEGE, 

AND TIMES OF BITTER PERSECUTION, 
THROUGH THE LONG AND WEARY VISITATION 
OF ACTIVE MALICE OR OF COLD CONTEMPT, 

HAVE PERPETUATED, 

AMONGST THEIR UNWORTHY COUNTRYMEN, 

THE BLESSED LINEAGE 

OF THEIR HOLY FOUNDERS. 


St. Wilfrid's, 

Feast of St. Bernard, 
m. D. CCC. XLVII. 







PREFACE. 


Of the two lives which this volume 
contains, that of S. Thomas of Villanova 
is by Father Claude Maimbourg, an 
Augustinian, published at Paris in 1659; 
and that of S. Francis Solano by Father 
Francis Courtot, a Franciscan, and Doc¬ 
tor in Theology of the Faculty of Paris. 
The translations of this volume—and the 
same remark will apply to the whole 
series—are by no means literally faithful. 
This did not seem a matter of any conse¬ 
quence in biography; the reader wishes 
to have the life of the Saint, without at¬ 
taching, except in some rare instances, 
any value to the style or manner of the 
biographer; but it did seem important 
to have the narrative as fluent, idiomatic, 
and natural as a translation can be, and 
to this the mere literal fidelity of trans¬ 
lation has been sacrificed. In promising 
volumes of four hundred pages, our read¬ 
ers will understand that we could not 
pledge ourselves to have each volume 



Vlll 


PREFACE. 


neither more nor less than that length, 
but that the average should be four 
hundred pages. Thus the present volume 
falls considerably short of that, whereas 
the first volume was twenty-two pages 
more, and the two next volumes will more 
than compensate for the deficiency of this; 
but the average will be kept to as far as 
the different length of the Lives will allow. 
Dr. Wiseman’s Introduction on the Lives 
of the Modern Saints will be given with 
the second and concluding volume of 
S. Philip Neri, which, it is hoped, will be 
published before the close of the present 
year. The third volume, containing the 
Lives of S. Rose of Lima, B. Colomba 
of Rieti, and S. Juliana Falconieri, 
will be published on the 25th of October. 

F. W. Faber. 

St. Wilfrid’s, 

Feast of St. Bernard, 1847. 




CONTENTS. 


THE LIFE OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


PART I. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Of the Birth of St. Thomas of Villanova, and 
the inclination to assist the poor which he 
displayed in his early youth - - - 3 

II. He is sent to study at the university of Al¬ 
cala, and makes rapid progress in virtue 
and learning.9 

III. He takes the habit in the order of St. Au¬ 

gustine .13 

IV. Of his conduct in the observance of the rules 

after his profession, and of his elevation to 

the priesthood.18 

V. He teaches theology at Salamanca - - 24 

VI. Of the wonderful talent for preaching that God 

bestowed on St. Thomas of Villanova - - 31 

VII. Of the great virtues with which the Saint ac¬ 
companied his preaching - - - - 36 

VIII. Continuation of the same subject, with some 

examples.40 

IX. Of his conduct in the religious offices imposed 

on him.46 

X. St. Thomas is elected provincial twice conse¬ 
cutively in two different provinces - - 53 

XI. St. Thomas is allied in friendship with those 
only whom he knows to be virtuous and 
faithful servants of God - - - - 59 

XII. St. Thomas refuses the archbishopric of Gran¬ 
ada, and accepts that of Valentia - - 65 


PART II. 

I. Of the conduct of St. Thomas when he became 
archbishop, and of the first proofs which he 
gave of charity and prudence in his govern¬ 
ment .77 





X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK PAGE 

II. St. Thomas when archbishop preserved the 
same poverty and modesty as when a simple 
religious; and his new dignity never made 
him forget his first condition - - - 84 

III. Of the time employed by St. Thomas in prayer, 

and the favours he received in that holy 
exercise.89 

IV. Of the gift of prophecy, and the power he had 

received from God over demons - - - 96 

V. Of his humility after he became archbishop - 101 

VI. St. Thomas had no respect of persons. Of his 
contempt for all created things. Of his evan¬ 
gelical liberty.109 

VII. Of the care he took of his household, and the 
charity with which he treated all those 

under his jurisdiction.118 

VIII. Sequel of the preceding chapter, in which is 
shown the number of conversions he obtain¬ 
ed by the severe disciplines he used - - 128 

IX. Of the care which he took of the honour of his 

clergy, and of his charity towards the poor 136 

X. The vigilance and prudence of this holy pastor 

in the government of his flock - - - 141 

XI. Of the wonderful charity of St. Thomas to¬ 
wards the poor.156 

XII. Continuation of the account of his charity to¬ 
wards the poor.167 

XIII. Sequel of the same subject - - - - 174 

XIV. Of the miracles wrought by our Lord in the dis¬ 

tribution of alms by St. Thomas of Villanova 182 

XV. Of the death of St. Thomas of Villanova - 191 


ABRIDGMENT OF THE MIRACLES OF ST. THOMAS 
OF VILLANOVA. 

Incorruption of the body of St. Thomas of Villanova 209 
Multiplication of corn in favour of the poor - - 211 

St. Thomas with the sign of the cross cures a lame 

and paralytic man.213 

A dead child by the merits of St. Thomas of Villanova 
raised to life at his tomb .214 



CONTENTS. 


XI 


l'AGE 

A girl sixteen years of age also resuscitated at the 
tomb of St. Thomas of Villanova - - - - 215 

A blind girl received her sight at the tomb of St. 

Thomas of Villanova.217 

By touching the relics of St. Thomas a girl is miracu¬ 
lously cured of a disease pronounced incurable - 218 
A cure very similar to the preceding by the merits of 

St. Thomas of Villanova.219 

A wounded man, after having kept his bed two years, 
is miraculously cured by the intercession of St. 

Thomas of Villanova.220 

A man covered with ulcers, which confined him to his 
bed for fourteen years, is in an instant recovered 

by the prayers of St. Thomas.221 

A paralytic recovers his health through the interces¬ 
sion of St. Thomas.222 

A woman in a dangerous labour is miraculously de¬ 
livered, and her dead child brought to life, through 
the merits of St. Thomas - 222 

A dead man raised to life by St. Thomas - - - 223 


THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

CHAPTER 

I. Birth and education of St. Francis Solano - 227 

II. Francis enters religion, and after his noviciate 

is promoted to the priesthood - - 229 

III. Saintly conduct of St. Fancis Solano, as vicar 

of choir, preacher, master of novices, and 
guardian.- 233 

IV. Conduct of St. Francis of Solano during the 

plague at Montoro.238 

V. St. Francis begs leave to go into Barbary; he 
is refused, but succeeds in obtaining per¬ 
mission to proceed to America - - 241 

VI. St. Francis of Solano embarks for the Indies; 
he suffers shipwreck, and for three days 
and three nights is in danger of perishing 244 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER PAGE 

VII. St. Francis tarries for three months in a des¬ 
ert island; he arrives at Peru, whence he 
passes to the provinces of Tucuman - 248 

VIII. First employment of St. Francis at Tucuman 252 

IX. St. Francis Solano makes some journeys in 
Tucuman ; he signalizes his virtue in all 
places ------- 256 

X. St. Francis is appointed superior of all the 
convents of his order in Tucuman; he is 
afterwards sent to the convent of retreat 
at Lima ------- 258 

XI. Pious exercises of St. Francis during his four 
years’ sojourn at our Lady of Angels in 

Lima.. 262 

XII. St. Francis goes to Truxillo, and there assists 
a poor leprous woman; he predicts the 
ruin of the city, which event follows some 
time after.- 266 

XIII. St. Francis returns to Lima, and by his preach¬ 

ing leads the inhabitants to penance - 270 

XIV. Other wonderful effects of the preaching of 

St. Francis Solano.275 

XV. Other exercises of St. Francis Solano during 

his latter years.278 

XVI. What St. Francis Solano did and suffered in 

the infirmary of the convent of Lima - 284 

XVII. Last illness and saintly death of the blessed 

Francis Solano.288 

XVIII. Burial of St. Francis Solano - 293 

XIX. Miracles and predictions of St. Francis Solano 298 

XX. Miracles wrought at the death and burial of 

St. Francis Solano.301 

XXI. Information regarding the virtues and mir¬ 
acles of St. Francis Solano ... 304 

XXII. Delay of the beatification - 307 

XXIII. Beatification and canonization of St. F. Solano 309 



THE LIFE 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

a 

r C •: 




2 




THE LIFE 


OF 

ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


PART I. 


CHAPTER I. 

OF THE BIRTH OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, AND 
THE INCLINATION TO ASSIST THE POOR WHICH HE 
DISPLAYED IN HIS EARLY YOUTH. 

St. Thomas of Villanova was born in Spain, in 
the year of grace 1488. His birth-place was a 
village called Fluentplan, near Villanova, a town 
of some note in the district of Montiei and diocese 
of Toledo. The nobility of his parents sprung 
from the exercise of virtue and sanctity of life, 
rather than from a long descent. They were 
simple people of the middle class; and their 
ancestors, who from time immemorial had pro¬ 
fessed the Catholic Faith, had bequeathed a fair 
name to their family, but had not cared to leave 
behind them any extraordinary store of wealth. 
But for all this they were well to do in the world. 
They had enough to support their condition hon¬ 
estly, and they contented themselves with what 
our Lord had given them. 




4 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


His father was called Alphonse Thomas Garcie. 
He was a pious man, and of spotless morals. As 
he possessed good feeling, and was easy and 
affable, many men resorted to him for advice in 
their difficulties; but chiefly the poor villagers, 
to whom he was in the habit of lending grain for 
seed or for their support until harvest-time, when 
they punctually repaid what they had borrowed. 

His mother’s name was Lucie Martines. She 
was very modest and retiring, and carried en¬ 
graved upon her face the image of the devotion 
which breathed through her heart. She assisted 
regularly at the Divine Office, frequented the 
Sacraments, and never neglected her hours of 
mental prayer. But of all the religious exercises, 
to which she devoted herself with so much careful 
attention, she was most remarkable for charity 
towards the poor. This she practised with so 
much love and tenderness, that our Saint in after 
years, looking back with admiration to his mo¬ 
ther’s virtues, was wont to disclose to his more 
intimate friends, that God, in consideration of 
her compassion towards the indigent, had bestow¬ 
ed upon him graces and favours so remarkable as 
to amount almost to a miracle. And thus Juan 
Magnanatones, a brother of his order, who was 
bishop of Segovia, used to say of him, that he 
never spoke of his mother’s piety without express¬ 
ing the same sentiments towards her that S. Au¬ 
gustin entertained towards his mother, S. Monica, 
and has published in his Confessions, where he 
sets forth his obligations to her goodness. 

Such was the mother of S. Thomas. From 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


5 


her our Saint appeared to inherit the gift of 
prayer, piety, and compassion towards the poor, 
and to add to them the judgment and probity 
of his father. Our Lord vouchsafed to unite in 
the sou the virtues of both parents, and rendered 
him in a short time a perfect and accomplished 
model of them all. 

St. Augustin, speaking of the care which his 
mother took to rear him in the love and fear of 
God, remarks amongst other things, that she 
often had the holy name of Jesus on her tongue, 
in order that he might learn to pronounce it 
betimes, and to invoke it in his little wants with 
the lisping accents of infancy. The result of this 
holy diligence was, that the sacred Name became 
so deeply imprinted in his heart, that in after¬ 
years when his judgment had been clouded by 
Manichean errors, he could not relish the lectures 
of heathen philosophers and orators, because they 
did not contain the name of Jesus, which he 
afterwards found so frequently in the Epistles of 
S. Paul; and thus his entire conversion happily 
ensued. In the same way the mother of our 
S. Thomas knew of what importance it was in 
the education of the young, to give them good 
principles, and early to impress them with all 
that they ought to retain; and, therefore, to the 
first sentiments of piety with which she inspired 
her son, she endeavoured to join a tender devotion 
to the most holy Name of Jesus, and to that of 
the Blessed Virgin, feeding his heart with respect 
and love towards the Queen of heaven, at the 
same time that she nourished his body with its 


6 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


first food; and so happy were the effects, that it 
was remarked of all the graces which he received 
from God through the intercession of Mary, the 
sovereign dispenser of favours, that the most dis¬ 
tinguished were conferred upon him on some one 
of her festivals. For example, he took the habit 
of religion on the day of our Lady’s Presentation, 
he received the episcopal dignity on her glorious 
Assumption, and he quitted this world on the 
feast of her Nativity. 

His inclination to frequent churches and spend 
as much time in them as he was able, may also 
be ascribed to the good example of his mother. 
Like another Samuel, whom God had chosen to 
dwell in His presence, ho began as soon as he 
could walk, to offer his first steps and first words 
in the temple, where he used to say his prayers 
and to serve mass with a behaviour quite unlike 
a child. It was his delight to sweep the church, 
and to deck the altars, and to find employment 
of this sacred kind; and the persons in charge 
of the church used to set the young Saint to 
work, as much to satisfy his requests, as for the 
sake of gaining his services. His father and 
mother, who sought only the glory of God in 
their son, were over-joyed at these indications of 
an inclination towards the priesthood or a reli¬ 
gious life; and they sent him to school at the age 
of seven, where he learnt to read and write, and 
went through the other ordinary branches of 
education. Before he had been long at school, he 
displayed tokens of the vivacity of his spirit, which 
engaged the attention of his master. The solidity 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


7 


of his judgment drew forth particular admiration; 
for he possessed sound sense, and conducted him¬ 
self with so grave a demeanour, that he kept his 
companions to their duties by his mere presence. 
He never accosted any who were not distin¬ 
guished for modesty, and when he found none 
in his own humour, he used to go straight home 
or to the church, and all his pleasure out of 
school was found in one or the other. 

The love of our Saint towards the poor was 
displayed very early, and from his little alms 
it was easy to judge how much he would after¬ 
wards do to solace their afflictions. Instead of 
eating his breakfast, he generally gave it to the 
poor whom he met on his way to school; and 
not content with taking the food from his own 
mouth for their support, he often pulled off his 
clothes and gave them to poor children, as a pro¬ 
tection against cold and nakedness. His mother, 
so far from reproving him on these occasions, 
praised God within herself, and used to pray 
that He who had inspired these first movements 
of piety and compassion towards His members, 
would bless her son the more for them, and 
would deign to bring him to perfection, which 
she only desired for His glory. 

As he was coming from school one day, when 
he was about eight years old, he overtook a poor 
peasant who seemed very sad, and was afraid 
to enter the house, because he had not brought 
back all the corn which our Saint’s father had 
lent him the previous year. The child advanced 
with a gay and open countenance, and demanded 


8 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


the reason of his sadness. The villager knew 
him, and disclosed all his grief; the 'year had 
been a very bad one, and he was consequently 
quite unable to repay all at once the corn he 
had borrowed last seed-time, and he feared that 
what he had with him would not be accepted 
as an instalment, and that he should henceforth 
forfeit the benefits which he had hitherto en¬ 
joyed. This recital made a deep impression on 
the child’s heart. ‘‘Come,” he exclaimed to 
the poor man; “ come at once and let me see 
the truth of what you say; for if you really 
have so scanty a supply of grain, and if you 
are not able to return what you have borrowed 
of my father, be sure that God will find a rem¬ 
edy for your misfortune.” So they went toge¬ 
ther, and he found that the poor man’s story 
was evidently true. The child then retraced his 
steps, and throwing himself at his father’s feet, 
he described the misery of the poor debtor who 
could not pay all that he owed, and even, in 
returning a portion of it, had left scarce any 
food for his destitute family; and he implored 
his father by the name of our Lord, to take what 
the poor man had brought, and to wait for the 
remainder until he could conveniently pay it. 
His father, overcome by so moving a petition, 
was unable to hear him out. He was filled with 
joy to hear his son express sentiments so good 
and generous. That very instant he went to the 
door, to find the poor peasant, and to offer him 
consolation; and ho forthwith cancelled the debt, 
and promised to continue his assistance when¬ 
ever the poor man stood in need of help. 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


9 


CHAPTER II. 

HE IS SENT TO STUDY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA, 

AND MAKES RAPID PROGRESS IN VIRTUE AND 

LEARNING. 

At the age of twelve his father and mother 
sent him to study at the university of Alcala. 
They wished him to make advances in litera¬ 
ture ; for they gathered from the bright indi¬ 
cations of goodness and talent which he had 
displayed, that he was destined for the service 
of our Lord, and that he would one day rise to 
eminence in the Church. The result answered 
their expectations. On quitting Villanova he 
knew nothing at all of the Latin language; and 
yet he had not been long at Alcala, before he 
made himself a perfect master of it. He passed 
with success through the Humanity classes. His 
progress in Rhetoric, Philosophy, and Theology, 
was quite surprising. But although the advance 
he made in all the sciences taught at the uni¬ 
versity, drew all eyes upon him, it was his 
humility above all the rest which elicited the 
the admiration both of masters and scholars. 
During the sixteen years which he spent at Alcala 
and Salamanca, learning himself and teaching 
others, he never uttered a single word to his 
own advantage or the prejudice of his neigh¬ 
bour. He never let fall one bitter or mis¬ 
placed word, whoever might contradict him; 


10 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


and while arguing in the schools, amidst the 
heats of debate, he preserved as much compo¬ 
sure as when alone in his chamber. The hu¬ 
mility which he preserved while surrounded with 
applauding friends, gained the love and esteem 
of all hearts, insomuch that respect for his 
virtue often procured him to be chosen referee 
in cases of great difficulty, where the cleverest 
of the university had failed of success, and his 
charity and inclination towards peace, found 
means to compose differences which were quite 
unknown to the wisdom of the flesh. 

He was very pure and chaste, and Father 
James Montiel, his confessor, deposed publicly, 
that he had never permitted the precious lily of 
his chastity to wither, but had kept it pure and 
whole even to the tomb. To preserve this celes¬ 
tial virtue, which he knew to be the gift of God, 
he devoted himself to frequent prayer, as well 
as to meditation and other spiritual exercises, 
and he endeavoured to act up to the advice 
S. Jerome gave Rufinus, “To avoid idleness as 
the mother of vices.” To this end he occupied 
all his time in reading, praying, studying, and 
conversing with his friends about what he had 
read or learnt; in order that the devil, find¬ 
ing him so engaged, might not be able to enter 
his soul, and to assail it and involve it in 
his snares. To this remedy the young Saint 
added the practice of another virtue equally 
calculated to guard him from an evil which he 
dreaded more than death itself. The mortifi¬ 
cation of his body was continual. He wore him- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


11 


self down with fasting and hair-cloth and the 
frequent use of the discipline, and subdued his 
flesh, as though he regarded it as an enemy, 
which he was resolved to render perfectly supple 
and obedient to his spirit. 

While he was thus employed in labouring for 
his salvation, his father, who had done all he 
could by good works to secure his own, passed 
from this world to the other, leaving his pro¬ 
perty to his wife and son. As soon as the news 
reached S. Thomas, he set off for Villanova, that 
he might arrange his family affairs, and console 
his mother by his presence. In both objects 
he was equally successful. After having read 
his father’s will, he told his mother with great 
simplicity, that he had no wish for his share 
of the property; that he willingly resigned it 
to her for her support, to enable her to live 
comfortably in her state of widowhood ; and that, 
as for himself, his thoughts and desire were fixed 
upon heavenly riches, not on those of the earth, 
which he despised and renounced with all his 
heart, for the love of his Lord and a wish to 
imitate His example. 

This noble conduct had so much effect upon 
his mother, that, though but seventeen years 
of age, he induced her to adopt his sentiments, 
persuading her to turn their house into an hos¬ 
pital for the poor, and to employ all her means 
in lodging, feeding, and entertaining them. Our 
Lord, who spoke to her by the voice of her son, 
rewarded her cheerful acquiescence to His wishes 
by bestowing on her some very remarkable fa- 


12 


ST. THOMAS OF V1LLANOVA. 


vours and graces, having even sometimes mi¬ 
raculously multipled the provisions of the hos¬ 
pital, for the pilgrims and other poor people 
who resorted to her for relief. On account of 
her profuse and tender charity, she was honoured 
with the title of “ Mother of the Poor.” 

Her son, who was truly the father of the poor, 
making them, while living, his heirs, returned 
to Alcala, where he made such progress both 
in virtue and knowledge, that his instructors in 
the university (especially a celebrated professor 
named John of Vergana) who knew his humility, 
proposed him to their scholars for imitation, as 
if he had been already a saint canonized by the 
Church. 

At the early age of twenty-six, he lectured 
publicly in philosophy, and amongst the numer¬ 
ous auditors who were afterwards celebrated for 
their piety and doctrine, there was one of par¬ 
ticular celebrity, named Dominic Soto, whom 
Spain reckons amongst the most illustrious of 
her theologians. 

When these lectures were concluded, he was 
offered a vacant place in the college of S. Ilde- 
phonsus in Alcala. Those who had the right of 
presentation, wished to show their high sense of 
his merits, by presenting him, unsolicited, to a 
situation which was usually obtained by powerful 
interest. The doctors of Alcala had hoped by 
this obligation to keep him with them, and to 
make him one of the heads of their body. How¬ 
ever, they were soon deprived of him, for the 
university of Salamanca, the first in Spain, 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


13 


haying heard of his virtue and extraordinary- 
acquirements, invited him there to teach mor¬ 
ality. He went, not so much for the emolument, 
as to satisfy their earnest wishes, and to show 
his feeling of the honour done him. His principal 
object was to execute the design he had formed 
of giving himself more entirely to God, as soon 
as he could honestly disengage himself from his 
studies. To prepare for the retreat from the 
world which he meditated, he gave himself more 
than ever to prayer, fasting, mortification of the 
senses, and assisting the necessitous and the 
miserable. He had an especial compassion for 
poor scholars, charitably giving them all he 
could spare to help them to continue their 
studies, employing for this object the profit of 
his labours, scarcely reserving for himself as 
much as was necessary for his subsistence. 


CHAPTER III. 

HE TAKES THE HABIT IN THE ORDER OF 
ST. AUGUSTINE. 

Although our holy professor lived in the world 
as not belonging to it, and, to speak in the lan¬ 
guage of the apostle, used the world as not using 
it, knowing that the fashion of it passes away, 
he resolved to go out of it entirely, and to shelter 
himself from its waves and tempests in the 
secure and peaceful harbour of a religious life. 
Nevertheless, with his accustomed prudence and 



14 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


caution, he determined not to be precipitate in so 
important an affair; but recommending it to God 
with many prayers and tears, he spared no pains 
to make himself acquainted with the spirit and 
the rules of several orders, that he might judge 
for which he was the best fitted. At length, 
after a long and careful examination, our Lord, 
who knows what is good for us better than we do 
ourselves, called him by a strong inspiration into 
the order of S. Augustine. 

He said nothing to his friends respecting his 
intention, nor did he disclose it even to his 
mother, much as he loved and honoured her. 
He feared she might divert him from his purpose; 
and from the manner in which she wrote to him 
after his profession, it appears he was right in his 
conjecture. She entirely approved of his reso¬ 
lution to leave the world, and thanked God from 
the depths of her soul, that her beloved son was 
so entirely devoted to His service, but with a 
mother’s fond affection she had set her heart 
upon his entering the monastery of Hucles of the 
order of S. Jerome, that she might sometimes 
have the consolation of seeing him, instead of his 
removing to a distance where she would be de¬ 
prived of that pleasure. 

In order then to prevent these, and other 
obstacles, which flesh and blood might have 
raised, from strangling his design in its birth, 
he went immediately to Father Francis of Para, 
superior of the Augustines of Salamanca, humbly 
requesting the habit. He was received at the 
age of thirty, on the day of the Presentation of 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


15 


our Lady, having expressly chosen this day from 
a feeling of respect and tenderness towards the 
Blessed Virgin, and with an earnest hope that it 
might please God to bless the offering he made 
of himself, in consideration and by the merits of 
the rich present which she that day made of 
herself in the Temple. 

Cruzenius, one of our most celebrated authors, 
speaking of the time of Luther’s fatal apostacy, 
remarks in his Chronicles, that the same year, 
nay, the very same day that the devil enticed 
that monster from the religious order which he 
had professed, our Lord, by a particular conduct 
of His Providence, called S. Thomas into it; 
as if in some manner to repair the injury the 
one did to the church, by the honour and advan¬ 
tage it would receive from the other. 

The manner in which he made his exercises in 
the very beginning of his noviciate, proved the 
holiness of his vocation. His humility, his devo¬ 
tion, his exact obedience, his silence, and recol¬ 
lection were such, that not only the young, but 
even those who had grown grey in the practices 
of regularity, could not contemplate him without 
some sort of confusion, seeing a novice begin 
where the most perfect in a religious life are 
accustomed to end. 

The virtues which drew on him this admiration, 
and which served as the basis and foundation of 
the spiritual edifice which he raised in his novi¬ 
ciate, were continual prayer, and a very extra¬ 
ordinary and deep humility. He remained in 
prayer from the end of Matins to the hour of 


16 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


Prime ; and after Prime, till it was necessary to 
return to the choir to sing Tierce and Sext, he 
read books of devotion, attaching himself espe¬ 
cially to the works of S. Bernard, which he 
relished more than the writings of any other 
Father. This predilection is easily accounted for 
when we consider the similarity of spirit existing 
between them, shown so clearly in their works. 
This reading, with which he nourished his soul, 
and enlivened his devotion in his cell, at the foot 
of the crucifix, did not prevent him in his year 
of probation, from going through his theological 
studies again, and reading with the utmost atten¬ 
tion to refresh his momory. He well knew how 
useful and necessary scholastic knowledge is to 
discover the mysteries of faith, and when dis¬ 
covered to impress them deeply on the mind. 

He continued to pursue this system, and was 
afterwards often heard to say, that the good 
religious studies while he prays, and prays while 
he studies. According to the author whose his¬ 
tory we follow, it was from the time of his arrival 
at Alcala, that he began to unite study with 
prayer, and prayer with study, in such a manner 
that they almost made one single exercise. 

The other virtue, for which he became equally 
remarkable, was a most profound humility. 
Here was a man, who, at the age of thirty, was 
a licentiate in theology, and who had acquired 
by his virtue and merit a high reputation in two 
universities where he had taught with much 
success and applause; yet, who renouncing the 
profit and the glory that his public lectures 


ST. TII0MA3 OF VILLANOVA. 


17 


invariably drew upoii him, was always the first 
at the exercises which are commonly used to try 
the submission of the brother novices. What¬ 
ever ho did was done with so much love and 
alacrity, that his master was filled with astonish¬ 
ment and admiration. 

He was a great lover of retirement and silence. 
To so great an extent did he carry these virtues, 
that had it not been noticed that he was ever 
ready to leave his beloved solitude at the call of 
charity, and to converse with those who needed 
spiritual advice, it would have been thought that 
he was close and uncommunicative from natural 
disposition, rather than from principle. 

Besides the fasts of the order, which he kept 
with the same exactness as those of the Church, 
he imposed on himself, with the consent of his 
superior, several others of devotion; fasting gen¬ 
erally three quarters of the year. On other days 
he eat as the rest of the community, but with so 
much restraint and moderation, that he always 
deprived himself of something, from the habit he 
had acquired in his penitential practices. His 
love of mortification was not confined to fasting. 
For although this is a very excellent means of 
keeping the body in subjection, it was not enough 
to satisfy him. He afflicted his body by the pri¬ 
vation of everything which could gratify it, in 
order to subdue it entirely, and to render it sup¬ 
ple and obedient to the laws of reason. He slept 
only four, or at most, five hours; and during Lent 
and Advent his bed was a single plank. The rest 
of the year it consisted of a straw mattress and 
3 


18 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


two simple coverlets. These habits he continued 
even after he became archbishop. 

Such were his principles and his virtues, and 
such were the foundations which this devoted and 
fervent novice laid for the spiritual edifice, on 
which he ceased not to labour incessantly, until 
he had elevated it to that degree of perfection 
which we shall contemplate in the sequel of this 
history. 


CHAPTER IV. 

OF HIS CONDUCT IN THE OBSERVANCE OF THE RULES 
AFTER HIS PROFESSION, AND OF HIS ELEVATION TO 
THE PRIESTHOOD. 

The year of probation being passed, the day 
for which he so ardently longed, when he should 
devote himself entirely to the service of God by 
his solemn profession, at length arrived. 

He made the vows to his Lord with an ex¬ 
treme delight; rivers of tears flowing from his 
eyes; a testimony of the joy with which his soul 
was filled at the sacrifice he was making of his 
whole being to his God. The same spiritual joy 
was even afterwards shed abroad in his soul, 
when he recalled to mind the graces and mer¬ 
cies he received from his good God on the happy 
day of his profession. And even when he as¬ 
sisted at the profession of others, he could not 
prevent abundance of tears from flowing, at the 
thought of the blessings they were then receiv¬ 
ing, and those he had formerly received himself. 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


19 


After he was professed, he omitted none of 
the exercises of the noviciate. On the contrary, 
being persuaded, (as is indeed true,) that to per¬ 
form the promises he had made to God, he must 
tend more and more to perfection; he kept con¬ 
tinually impressed upon his mind, that the pro¬ 
gress he had hitherto made in his holy career, 
was nothing in comparison with what he had 
yet to attain. And thus, as if he were but a 
beginner, he applied himself with more fervour 
and devotion than ever to the practice of every 
virtue, and especially to that of charity. Not 
that this divine virtue, which was, as it were, 
the soul of every other virtue in which this 
Saint excelled, began to be practised by him 
only after his profession. By no means. He 
had always loved and practised it even in his 
childhood, as I have elsewhere related; yet, it 
had lain dormant, a captive and prisoner in the 
solitude of the noviciate. But as soon as he 
was at liberty to exercise it without prejudice 
to obedience, he set himself to attend on the 
sick with all imaginable fervour and humility. 
He remained in the infirmary as much as possible, 
to assist and console the poor sufferers. He pre¬ 
pared their food, he swept the room, made their 
beds, washed them, and rendered them every 
service in his power, without waiting for the 
orders of the superiors, who soon perceived that 
his excessive charity prompted him to make 
these visits of his own accord. 

He was always anxious to be the first to un¬ 
dertake the most vile and abject occupations in 


20 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


the monastery, endeavouring to anticipate the 
wishes and requests of those who needed his 
assistance. 

To exhort others to imitate him in these pious 
cares, he said sometimes to his friends, speak¬ 
ing to them in a familiar manner, and even in 
chapter to his religious, when he became supe¬ 
rior, that the infirmary was like the hush of 
Moses, where he who devotes himself to the 
sick will assuredly find God among the thorns 
with which lie will be surrounded. Where will 
a man find so many opportunities of practising 
the admirable virtues of patience, humility, and 
love, as among the crosses and trials which await 
him at every turn, at the bed-side of the sick ? 
Our Saint was so assiduous in his tender atten¬ 
tions to the poor invalids, and gained their love 
and esteem to such a degree, that they looked 
upon him and listened to him, as an angel sent 
from God, if not to cure, at least to strengthen 
and console them in their sufferings. 

But whilst thus employed, our Lord destined 
him for other and more important duties, by 
which he could serve Him better, and bring more 
glory to Ilis name. For this end he commanded 
him, through his superiors, to prepare for Holy 
Orders. He was ordained priest at the age of 
thirty-three, some time after his profession, and 
celebrated his first mass on Christmas day, with 
an inexpressible tenderness and devotion. He 
was completely absorbed in the contemplation 
of the favours and mercies that this Infant God 
brought to man by His birth; and remained in 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


21 


this state for some time, without being able to 
rouse himself. The meditation on this adorable 
mystery drew floods of tears from his eyes when 
he came to the hymn of the angels, Gloria in 
Excelsis, and to those wonderful words of the 
Preface, Quia per Incarnati Verbi mysterium. 
These feelings of tenderness for the birth of our 
Lord, were so deeply impressed on his heart, 
that he always fell into transports and ecsta¬ 
sies, whenever ho offered the adorable Sacrifice 
on this holy day. When he was archbishop, he 
was accustomed to celebrate the two first masses 
of Christmas in his chapel, that none but his 
almoners might witness those divine operations 
which passed in his soul, and which he could 
not conceal because of the brightness and splen¬ 
dour which were spread over his countenance. 
After having finished his two masses, he retired 
into his oratory till the hour of office, when 
he went to the church to celebrate high 
mass. He usually performed this, being arch¬ 
bishop, with the same humility and modesty of 
apparel as he did when a simple religious. It 
is impossible to read with any degree of atten¬ 
tion, the sermons he has left to the public upon 
the mysteries of this sacred night, without catch¬ 
ing some sparks from that fire of devotion which 
this holy prelate breathed at the sight of the 
cradle and the infancy of Jesus. 

Such, then, was the beginning of his priest¬ 
hood; and the end was conformable with the 
beginning. In every situation of his life he had 
loved retirement and prayer; but after he was 


22 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


elevated to the dignity of priest, and every day 
allowed, by the honour and obligation of his 
character, to approach the table of the Lord, he 
endeavoured to make himself more and more 
worthy by redoubling his devotions. He assisted 
night and day in the choir, and in every neces¬ 
sary duty in the community. Nor was he less 
assiduous in his attentions to the sick. All his 
remaining time was employed in preparing for 
mass, except a small portion which he allotted to 
his studies. 

From the time that he first frequented the 
schools, he had acquired the habit of often ma¬ 
king a serious examination of his feelings and 
conduct, to discover whether he had advanced or 
fallen back in the way of the spiritual life. He 
continued the same practice after he was a reli¬ 
gious, and performed it with still greater exact¬ 
ness when he became a priest, from the more 
fervent desire he had of attaining to perfection. 
He used to say, that it is a bad sign in a priest, 
when he is seen every day to approach the altar 
without becoming better or more holy; confirm¬ 
ing his words by this saying of S. Bernard: “ The 
religious who does not advance in the way of God, 
recedes.” It was for this reason he so carefully 
practised a daily examen, and recommended it to 
others, as a most important and necessary exer¬ 
cise for those who have any real regard for their 
salvation. 

It was by this means also that he learnt to 
regulate his time and his occupations so exactly, 
that he had not a single useless moment in the 


ST. TIIOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


23 


whole day, but laboured continually for his own 
spiritual profit, or that of his neighbour, which 
he desired no less ardently than his own. 

He was never seen in the cells of others, nor 
suffered any one to enter his own, unless charity 
required it. When he was compelled to open his 
door to speak to those who had business with him, 
he used as few words as possible in satisfying 
them, and quickly returned to his beloved retreat. 
Those who wished to see him generally sought 
him in one or other of the five places he had con¬ 
secrated to the five sacred wounds of our Lord— 
the altar, the choir, the library, the infirmary, or 
his cell; for in any other place it was almost 
useless to seek him. 

One of his greatest sorrows was to see a reli¬ 
gious idle and useless; and if by chance he saw 
one without any employment, he would endeavour 
to remedy the evil by discreet and charitable 
means; and compared the religious without occu¬ 
pation to a soldier without arms, exposed to the 
attack of his enemy. 

All loved him. All in the monastery honoured 
him for his sweetness and his prudence. He used 
every means in his power to preserve peace in 
the community, and if there happened to be the 
least breach of concord between any of the bro¬ 
thers, he quickly united them again in the bonds 
of fraternal charity. He revered his superiors as 
those who held the place of God. The obedience 
that he rendered them was prompt and ready, 
and he never offered reasons to obtain dispensa- 


24 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


tions from their commands, or to delay in the 
slightest degree their execution. 

He was patient beyond measure, and humble 
and affable to all men. Not that he conversed 
equally and familiarly with all, but with those 
only whose spirit and virtue were tried; remem¬ 
bering the counsel of the wise man, that we 
should bestow our love upon all men, but give 
our confidence only to a few. 


CHAPTER V. 

HE TEACHES THEOLOGY AT SALAMANCA. 

The pleasure that he found in these holy and 
devout exercises, so entirely satisfied his mind, 
that if it had been in his power, he would for 
ever have renounced all other things to remain 
as a simple religious, and to end his days in that 
hidden life which his soul loved. For he judged 
by the profit which he himself reaped from this 
sort of life, that it was the least perilous and the 
best calculated to lead on to that perfection, 
which he so ardently longed to attain. But the 
Providence of God had other designs upon him. 
The grace given him to embrace a religious life, 
was only given to dispose and prepare him for 
employments more conducive to the glory of God, 
and the good of his fellow men. His superior 
ordered him to teach theology in the monastery 
of Salamanca. He obeyed simply, without urging 
any of those excuses which false humility so 



ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 25 

often makes use of, in order to be entreated to 
do what is requested, and thus be exalted in the 
eyes of men. In his course, he explained the 
Master of the Sentences, keeping in his lectures 
the same order that this illustrious doctor ob¬ 
serves in his four books, which contain the whole 
body of theology. He possessed a clear head, 
and a firm and solid judgment, but his memory 
was not so happy. He told Father Roderic, a 
celebrated religious, that he had laboured hard 
to supply this defect, being obliged to explain 
his lectures to the students of the monastery, 
and to other scholars of the university, who 
quitted their own classes to attend his. 

And yet, with this new charge, which was 
enough to occupy entirely an ordinary man, he 
relaxed in none of his exercises of piety and 
mercy, visiting and serving the sick according to 
his usual custom. He had his regular hours of 
meditation, and if he was sometimes prevented 
from assisting in choir, on account of his lectures, 
he was the more earnest and assiduous when he 
could do so. Those days on which he did not 
hear his classes, he was never missing from the 
office, and was most frequently seen at matins. 

Such was the life and conduct of this holy 
professor. Nothing was left undone on his part, 
to make his scholars skilful and learned theolo¬ 
gians ; but as he only regarded the glory of God, 
and the good of their souls in their advancement, 
he was much more anxious to see them humble 
and devout, than excelling in that knowledge 
which puffs up the mind. He exhorted them by 


26 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


his words, and still more by the example of his 
virtues and his holy life, to join the fear of God 
with the study of letters; because, he would say, 
“Science and doctrine without piety, are like a 
sword placed in the hand of a child, who can 
make no good use of it, and may injure many.” 
At other times he would address those likely to 
fall into the opposite fault; for he equally blamed 
the mistake of many, who, under the pretext of 
piety, fail to apply themselves enough to study. 
He would say to them, that sanctity alone may 
be very advantageous, to those who possess it, 
yet it is of little value, as regards the church 
and our neighbour, unless united with a know¬ 
ledge of doctrine, of Holy Scripture, and of the 
Fathers. And that it is an abuse to imagine, 
that the study of letters is incompatible with 
devotion and interior recollection in a monastery. 

That of the Augustines of Salamanca was soon 
crowded with a number of excellent religious, 
raised by our Lord’s goodness to a high degree of 
piety and knowledge; all distinguished servants 
of God, perfect and apostolic men. Several of 
them went afterwards to the West Indies, to la¬ 
bour in the conversion of the new world. Among 
others were the fathers, Christolph of S. Martin, 
Peter of Pampeluna, John Cruzati, and above all, 
Father Jerome Ximenes, one of our Saint’s most 
familiar friends. This holy man, who, like his 
Master, sought only the means of glorifying God 
and procuring the salvation of souls, having learnt 
that an infinite number in America were lost for 
want of instruction and catechising in our holy 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 27 

faith, entreated S. Thomas, as soon as he became 
provincial, which was in the year 1529 , that he 
would send him into those distant regions, to 
labour in his Lord’s vineyard. S. Thomas, who 
well understood his character, consented to his 
earnest entreaties, and gave him as companions 
in his labours two of those before mentioned, with 
several others that he thought well fitted for this 
apostolic ministry. 

Among the gifts which this Saint had received, 
that which S. Paul calls the discernment of spirits 
was very conspicuous in him. He had no sooner 
entered into conversation with a person, than he 
seemed to discover by an interior light what were 
his desires, thoughts, and inclinations. It was 
in this way he knew the zeal, the strength, and 
purity of intention of those holy labourers whom 
the Son of God called to the Indies to preach 
His Gospel. His joy and consolation were ex¬ 
treme in sending them forth on this glorious 
mission; while at the same time he regretted 
deeply that his duties as provincial would only 
allow him to accompany them in heart, and with 
his prayers. He embraced them tenderly on 
their departure, and when they threw themselves 
at his feet, entreating his blessing, he said, “ I 
give it you, as your father and superior. Go, 
my children, go, my brethren. He who sent His 
apostles to spread His Gospel throughout the 
world, and to announce the glad tidings of salva¬ 
tion, is the same God who now sends you to 
preach our holy faith to the Gentiles. Fear not 
to cross the seas, however long and perilous your 


28 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


voyage may be. Go boldly from Christian coun¬ 
tries, to those of savage and barbarous nations; 
go courageously and with a confidence of success. 
For one of these two things is certain; either, by 
the grace of God, these idolatrous pagans will 
become faithful Christians, or it will be permitted, 
for your good, that they shall not believe your 
words, and will bestow on you the crown of mar¬ 
tyrdom.” 

The event verified his words. At first the 
difficulties they met with seemed almost insur¬ 
mountable. But by their incessant labours, and 
unwearied efforts in preaching, joined to the ex¬ 
ample of their holy lives, accompanied by the 
miracles which our blessed Lord enabled them 
to perform, to confirm the truth of their doc¬ 
trine, this ungrateful country, which hitherto 
had produced only the thorns and briars of sin, 
became fertile and abundant in good works, 
through the thousands of souls that these first 
evangelical conquerors of the new world, drew 
from the darkness of error and idolatry into the 
clear light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Before leaving this subject, to prove that to 
S. Thomas of Villanova, under God, ought to 
be attributed the good effected by the fathers of 
this order for the glory of God and the propa¬ 
gation of our holy faith, we will here insert a 
letter of grateful acknowledgement, addressed to 
him by Father Jerome Ximenes at a time when 
he was not provincial, but only superior of the 
Augustines of Burgos. By this we may see that 
that country was indebted to him for many pray- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


29 


ers, fasts, and other good works, performed with 
the intention of obtaining its conversion, as well 
as for sending them his religious as missionaries, 
and procuring the means necessary for their sub¬ 
sistence. 

“Reverend Father, 

“ The peace of God be with you. 

“Our Fathers and Brethren, by the grace of 
God, all arrived safely in this city of Mexico, 
the sixth of September last, 1539. We are all 
of one accord in the belief that our Lord Jesus 
has prepared an ample and rich crown for your 
Reverence, since he inspired you to do so much 
for the achievement of the holy work in which we 
are engaged. In reality we may call it your 
work; for you have contributed more than any 
other towards it. We owe you a deep debt of 
gratitude, and are, in truth, the children of your 
much honoured paternity, for whom we feel a 
sincere and cordial affection. To testify our 
thanks in a worthy manner towards you, it would 
be necessary to write them in letters of gold, 
or rather in our own blood; still we trust that 
this will be sufficient to express to you the feel¬ 
ings of our hearts. But we doubt not that the 
Master in whose vineyard we are labouring by 
your means, has written your name in eternal 
and ineffaceable characters in the book of life. 
Certainly, His Divine Goodness clearly shows 
how agreeable our poor efforts to enlighten this 
unhappy nation are to Him, by the fruit which 
is every day produced from the seed of the word. 


30 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


and by the care he takes to send His ministers 
to discover new countries, and to make new con¬ 
quests for the publication of His gospel. A year 
ago, a religious of S. Francis, a Frenchman, 
set out from these provinces to make discoveries 
where our governor had not yet been able to 
penetrate. After having travelled five hundred 
leagues of inhabited country, he came to a desert 
of sixty more, which he crossed, and arrived at 
a very populous kingdom, containing fortified 
cities, filled with beautiful and sumptuous edi¬ 
fices. The inhabitants were civilized, and most 
of them wore double robes of silk after the fash¬ 
ion of the augurs of the ancient Romans, and 
resembling Europeans in all other respects. I 
will be silent as to the riches of this country, 
because what I should say would appear incred¬ 
ible. He found there an infinite number of tem¬ 
ples dedicated to idols. Some of them were 
covered both within and without with emeralds, 
and other equally precious stones. Our Span¬ 
iards, whose desire of gold has led, and still 
leads them, to encounter the perils of the 
southern coast, assure us in like manner that 
they have discovered a number of large and 
beautiful islands near the land. I say this to 
your reverence, that you may know what service 
you have rendered to our Lord in sending la¬ 
bourers into his vineyard, and also to induce 
you to send us many more, that we may extend 
the knowledge of the Lord through the length 
and breadth of the land. As for those you last 
sent us, with the young man to whom you wish 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


31 


me to give the habit, they have arrived safely, 
after having encountered many perils and fa¬ 
tigues. But as we have an abundance of every 
thing necessary for their refreshment, we shall 
endeavour to re-establish their health as soon 
as possible, and send them each one to his sta¬ 
tion, except the novice, and brother Diego of 
Vertaviglio, who remains as master of our young 
professed at Mexico. All here are by the grace 
of God in good health, and entreat Him with 
our whole hearts, that it may please Him to in¬ 
crease in you that charitable spirit which He 
has so liberally bestowed on you in favour of 
this holy work, and to preserve you in His 
grace. 

“ Your very humble 

“Brother Jerome Ximenes. 

“ From Hapichetla, Oct. 9, 1539.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE WONDERFUL TALENT FOR PREACHING THAT GOD 
BESTOWED ON S. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

We will now resume the thread of the history 
that we left for a moment, to dwell on the mission 
of the disciples of this great Saint to the West 
Indies. 

His provincial, being informed of the great 
talents possessed by S. Thomas, not only for in¬ 
structing in the schools, but also for preaching in 
the public pulpits, judged that it was high time 



32 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


a man of such acknowledged merit and sanctity 
should appear in the world, to enlighten it with 
his doctrine, and to inflame it with the love of 
God by the example of his holy life. For this 
reason he ordered him to close his instructions, 
and leave the pulpit of the schools to ascend that 
of the Church, in order to preach the Gospel, 
trusting that God, who had given him the requi¬ 
site qualities for the office, would be glorified by 
him, and his neighbour edified. 

He obeyed the command of his superior with¬ 
out hesitation, firmly believing that in accom¬ 
plishing his will he accomplished that of God, 
whom he revered in his person. 

The holy evangelist, speaking of the Son of 
God, takes especial notice of two things respect¬ 
ing His preaching. In the first place, he says 
that having one day entered into the synagogue 
at Nazareth, He took the scripture, and in ex¬ 
plaining it applied the passage of Isaiah to Him¬ 
self, saying it was of Him the prophet spoke these 
words, “ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, be¬ 
cause the Lord hath sent me; He hath sent me 
to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of 
heart, and to preach a release to the captives, 
and deliverance to them that are shut up.” The 
second thing which he remarks is, the wonderful 
silence and gravity lie always preserved; He, 
who is the Word of the Eternal Father, and who 
makes the tongues of infants eloquent. By the 
first He teaches us how absolutely necessary it is 
for the preacher who would worthily acquit him¬ 
self of his ministry, to live holily, in order to draw 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


33 


down the Spirit of God into his soul, to retain 
Him there, and, as it were, oblige Him to water 
with His pure and heavenly dew the seed of the 
word which he is sowing, that it may be fruitful. 
And, moreover, that he ought not to engage of 
himself in this apostolic function, nor consult his 
own wishes, but should wait till the Spirit of God 
call him, and speak to him by the express com¬ 
mand of his superior. By the second He teaches 
us that the office of a preacher is no child’s play, 
but a most serious employment, leaving no room 
for the follies and giddinesses of youth. He who 
undertakes it should be especially careful that he 
does not contradict by his conduct the truths 
which his lips utter, and thus weaken the autho¬ 
rity with which he ought to announce the holy 
doctrines of the Gospel. 

Our holy preacher entered upon his office with 
these necessary dispositions. He was of mature 
age, and the order of his superiors, which was the 
seal of his mission, together with an abundance 
of very singular gifts and graces bestowed on him 
by God, enabled him to acquit himself worthily 
of his duties. 

Though in his manners and conduct he pos¬ 
sessed the wisdom of the old, even in his early 
youth, yet he did not begin to preach till he was 
thirty-six, and even then not without an express 
command; so great was his humility. It was an 
extraordinary thing to see how the rich and the 
noble flocked from all parts to see and hear him. 
Bishop Magnanaton, in his Abridgment of his 
Life, says, that he preached with such power and 
4 


34 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


energy, and so great a demonstration of zeal for 
the salvation of souls, that his renown was spread 
throughout Salamanca, every one regarding him 
with almost the same admiration they would 
have felt had they seen one of the apostles, or an 
angel descended from heaven in a human form, 
to preach the Gospel. 

Father John Hurtado, a religious of the order 
of S. Dominick, one of the most celebrated the¬ 
ologians and greatest preachers then in Spain, 
finding some difficulty in what the great, the 
little, the simple, and the learned, all assured 
him as to the exceeding excellence of S. Thomas 
as a preacher, determined to judge for himself 
how far all that he heard was true. He saw and 
heard him; and at the end of the sermon, being 
struck with astonishment and quite overcome, he 
exclaimed that the doctrine which he preached 
was not studied in books, but came direct from 
heaven, and could only have been learned at the 
feet of Jesus Christ. Then again, considering the 
apostolic liberty with which he reproved vices, his 
power of persuading, the fire with which he in¬ 
flamed all hearts, and that inimitable manner 
with which he induced men to reform their de¬ 
praved morals, to fly sin, and to embrace virtue, 
this great religious could not contain his admira¬ 
tion, crying out, “ For ever praised and blessed 
be our Lord and our God, for having given us in 
these times a Saint, and so admirable a minister 
of the Gospel. As to myself, I confess that I 
had difficulty in believing what I heard of this 
father, because it seemed to me that those ac- 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


35 


counts were exaggerated, but I say with truth, 
that what they then told me was nothing in com¬ 
parison of what I have myself now seen.” 

Soon afterwards, he was entreated to preach 
the Lent sermons in the Cathedral of Salamanca, 
just at the time when all Spain was in commo¬ 
tion ; most of the provinces revolting against the 
sovereign in the year 1521. He preached with 
so much success, that the same Don Juan of 
Magnanaton, Bishop of Segovia, (who speaks as 
a witness, and as one of the conquests of this 
holy preacher, who drew him from the vanities of 
the world, to follow our Lord in the narrow way, 
by entering the order of S. Augustine,) assures 
us that he made so many and such remarkable 
conversions at Salamanca, that those who wit¬ 
nessed the change in this city said, that it 
seemed rather that Salamanca was turned in¬ 
to a monastery, than that there were monas¬ 
teries in Salamanca: so great and so universal 
was the reformation of manners in all sorts of 
persons. All the religious houses of both sexes 
had an opportunity of making a rich harvest; 
every one was burning so much with the fire of 
devotion, with which this apostolic man kindled 
all hearts, that not only those who made open 
profession of virtue, but those who were the most 
attached to the world by sensual pleasures, and 
by the cares of riches, which our Lord calls thorns 
which choke the divine seed, came in crowds to 
hear him. 

Of all who listened to him, none could resist 
the fire of those ardent words which flowed from 


36 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


his inmost heart, to light in that of others the 
divine fire which burnt and consumed his own 
breast. The most considerable fruit which God 
drew from his preaching, and the example of his 
holy life, consisted principally in the conversion 
of the greater part of the young people of Sala¬ 
manca, who, eager to quit the world, pressed 
into every order, entreating to be admitted ; so 
that not having room to receive all those who 
presented themselves, the superiors were obliged, 
after filling their noviciates, to send the rest to 
the other towns of Castile, whose monasteries 
were in like manner quickly filled; all of them 
publishing wherever they went, the wonderful 
talents with which God had blessed His servant. 
Even Philip the Second, having heard of the re¬ 
nown of this holy religious, was persuaded that 
he could not give his son Charles a better mas¬ 
ter, one more worthy or more capable of instruct¬ 
ing him. He afterwards appointed him to the 
bishopric of Segovia, thus giving the first proof 
of his sense of our Saint’s merits. 


CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE GREAT VIRTUES WITH WHICH THE SAINT 
ACCOMPANIED HIS PREACHING. 

It is very difficult for those who are constantly 
engaged in preaching, not, in time, to diminish 
somewhat of the rigour and severity of their 
lives; and especially when they have gained a 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


37 


high reputation, and are often sought after by 
hearers and others ; by the one to have their 
doubts resolved, and by the others to receive 
counsels for the regulation of their life and con¬ 
duct. This fatigue, added to the burden which 
the office of preacher necessarily brings with it, 
sometimes deprives him of the tranquillity and 
interior recollection which he enjoyed before he 
was induced by charity to take on himself this 
increase of duty. 

But although the numbers that flocked to our 
Saint, anxiously desiring his advice, when added 
to the labour of preaching, might have sufficient¬ 
ly occupied and indeed oppressed him, yet it 
did not excuse him to give to prayer and medi¬ 
tation less time than before, or to omit any of his 
accustomed fasts and abstinences. He appeared 
equally recollected in himself, and as great a 
lover of penance as before, afflicting his body by 
fasts, watchings, and by the privation of what¬ 
ever could in the least degree flatter his senses. 

As he designed the good of others as much 
as his own, in all that he did, hoping to per¬ 
suade his auditors of the necessity of penance 
by example as well as by words; our good God 
gave so much power to his preaching, that he 
by his sermons generally obtained his end, the 
salvation of sinners. As all knew assuredly 
that the Saint urged nothing upon others which 
he had not first practised himself, he carried 
away the minds and hearts of his hearers like 
a torrent, and led them to such feelings as he 
wished them to possess, to detach them from the 


38 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


love of sin, and to lead them in the end to the 
love of virtue. 

He was once asked by a friend who was lost 
in admiration and wonder at the effects of his 
preaching, what books were in his opinion the 
best, and most adapted for those who exercise 
the ministry. “ Every book approved by the 
Church,” said he, “ is good, and always giving 
the first place to the Holy Scripture, which is 
preferable to every other book, there is not one 
from which the preacher may not derive much 
profit, provided only that he have these two 
qualities, holiness and humility.” He said also 
there was a strange error into which certain 
preachers were apt to fall: they destroy their 
health in the exercise of preaching, in order to 
benefit their neighbour, and entirely forget them¬ 
selves ; they think only of reforming the lives 
of others, while they neglect to correct their 
own; the very thing with which they ought to 
begin. He also greatly condemned, not in pub¬ 
lic but when in private with his friends, those 
preachers who depend too much upon their stu¬ 
dies, and who, neglecting prayer, employ more 
time than they ought in amassing thoughts and 
conceptions from books, to be produced after¬ 
wards in the pulpit; imagining, that to succeed 
in this science, it was more necessary to be stu¬ 
dious men, than men of prayer. To counteract 
this error, he collected a multitude of passages 
from scripture, proving how necessary it is for 
the evangelical preacher to apply himself se¬ 
riously to the exercise of humility and of con¬ 
tinual and fervent prayer. 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


39 


What S. Thomas of Villanova recommended 
so strongly to others, he practised rigidly him¬ 
self. He had acquired such a habit of prayer, 
that according to those who knew him best, his 
heart was constantly raised to God, speaking to 
Him interiorly in the midst of business and the 
most complicated occupations. It was the same, 
even after he became archbishop, whether giving 
audiences or replying to those who came to treat 
with him on matters of importance. Before he 
engaged in any affair, he was accustomed to 
retire into his oratory, and there throwing him¬ 
self on his knees before a crucifix to entreat 
Almighty God that it would please Him to teach 
him what he ought to say, and how he ought 
to behave on that occasion, that what was done 
might redound to His greater glory and the 
good of his neighbour. 

He was not curious or precise in speech. Nor 
did he pique himself on the beauty or ornament 
of his language. His discourse was well chosen, 
clear, and concise. He was always especially 
careful that the doctrine he preached should be 
strong, devout, and full of the Spirit of God, 
that his auditors might receive it, not with praises 
and admiration, which he despised as dangerous 
and superflous, but as a Christian ought to 
receive it, with a feeling of its coming from 
God, and with a sincere desire to amend and 
to become better for the future. Whence it 
often happened after his sermons, that his hear¬ 
ers bitterly deploring their sins, would throw 
themselves at the feet of a confessor, scarcely 


40 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


able to speak from the excess of the grief and 
regret which they felt within them. 

His name was known everywhere throughout 
Castile, especially at Burgos and Valladolid, 
where at that time Charles the Fifth held his 
imperial court. That sovereign, together with 
the empress, were astonished at what they heard 
of S. Thomas’s great talents for preaching; but 
when they listened to him themselves, they 
acknowledged he surpassed his reputation. Their 
majesties wrote immediately to his provincial, to 
say that they would retain him for their ordinary 
preacher, and as such they wished that he might 
remain at Valladolid, for their particular benefit. 
They assisted regularly at his sermons during 
Lent, as also on the Sundays and principal 
festivals of the year, together with a wonderful 
concourse of people, of prelates, and of the 
grandees of Spain. The emperor sometimes 
came without either guard or retinue, that he 
might hear him more at his ease, remaining 
there in that state to the end, as an ordinary 
person would have done. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT, WITH SOME 
EXAMPLES. 

To constitute a true preacher of the gospel, it 
would have seemed sufficient to possess the gifts 
and graces we have already seen carried to so 
high a degree of perfection in S. Thomas of 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


41 


Villanova. But the Holy Spirit, who intended to 
make use of him in an extraordinary way, had 
endowed him with two other virtues of great 
value in giving power and efficacy to his mission; 
that like another Jerome, he might destroy, build 
up, and edify. To speak correctly, they should 
rather bo called graces and celestial favours than 
virtues, since all the efforts of the human mind 
are incapable of acquiring them, or giving them 
to others. God alone can grant them, of His 
infinite goodness and mercy, to whom He pleases 
and when He pleases. 

The first of these graces was a certain light or 
interior view, by means of which, when ascending 
the pulpit, he knew, or rather the Holy Spirit 
discovered to him, the defects and spiritual neces¬ 
sities of his auditors, in order to apply the most 
appropriate remedy. The bishop of Segovia in 
the Abridgment of his Life, mentions this pecu¬ 
liarity as very wonderful, his auditory being 
composed of such a variety of minds and of 
situations in life; viz. prelates, bishops, princes, 
counsellers, courtiers; besides an innumerable 
concourse of people of all sorts and conditions. 
Yet all felt enlightened and inflamed by the 
power and brilliancy of the very same discourse, 
as if he had uttered it for each one in particular, 
or as if they had already thrown themselves at 
his feet, enabling him by a humble confession of 
their maladies, to apply the remedy he judged 
the most proper and salutary. And what is still 
more wonderful, his words being written and pro¬ 
nounced by the lips of another, had, in some sort, 


42 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


the same effect as when delivered by himself. 
Dom Gaspard d’ Avalos, Archbishop of Granada, 
having to preach on one of the principal festivals 
of the church, and anxious to produce a great 
effect on the minds and hearts of his people, 
entreated our Saint to gratify him with one of 
his conceptions, proper to that solemnity. He 
excused himself at first, and endeavoured to 
escape from granting the request; believing from 
the mean opinion he held of himself, that his 
productions were unworthy of notice. But the 
archbishop would take no denial, and he at 
length yielded to his wishes. 

Now although this prelate had all the parts of 
a good preacher, and was accustomed completely 
to satisfy his hearers, yet on this occasion he 
touched them to such a degree, that on his leav¬ 
ing the pulpit his chapter came to him in a body, 
expressing their admiration, and exclaiming they 
had never heard anything like it. “Gentlemen,” 
replied the archbishop, “ it is not astonishing you 
should be so affected, for what I have just said is 
not mine, but Father Thomas’s of Villanova, who 
communicated it to me, and who at the same 
time has given me a share of his spirit and zeal.” 

The other favour bestowed on S. Thomas by 
our Lord, was a very lively impression on his 
heart, and a deep feeling of the importance of 
the subject on which he preached. So that 
although the divine fire which enkindled his 
heart was sufficiently known by the inflamed 
words which issued from his lips, yet the graces 
and favours which God showered upon him were 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


43 


still more visibly discovered by the ecstasies and 
transports of spirit, which were very usual with 
him. He sometimes remained ravished and de¬ 
prived for a time of the use of his senses, by the 
force and vehemence of the interior feeling which 
consumed his soul, at the consideration of the 
glorious mysteries of our faith. The ecstasy 
into which he fell one Holy Thursday in the 
presence of the emperor was notorious, and well 
known by every one in Castile. While preaching, 
when he came to those words of S. Peter, “ Lord, 
dost Thou wash my feet,’' he entered so com¬ 
pletely into their spirit and deep meaning while 
explaining them, and saying, “ What, Lord, my 
feet! Thou who art my God, the glory of the 
angels, and all the beauty of heaven! ” that he 
was, as it were, out of himself, absorbed, and 
ravished, and remained for some time without 
uttering another word immovable as marble, and 
insensible to everything around him. No other 
sign of life was perceptible than the tears which 
flowed in abundance from his eyes which were 
fixed and raised towards heaven. 

In the year 1541, he was called to Toledo, to 
assist at the provincial chapter, by a letter from 
the Very Rev. Father Seripand, at that time 
general of the order, and afterwards cardinal 
legate of the pope, and president of the Council 
of Trent. Father Seripand intended to make 
him provincial and his vicar-general in Spain. 
St. Thomas, however, delayed his journey until, 
according to custom, and the rules of the order, 
he knew the provincial would be elected, fearing 


44 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


they would impose the charge on him. The 
Very Rev. Father was much displeased with him; 
yet when he arrived he could not refrain from 
embracing him warmly, so high was the esteem 
he felt for his character, and so great his joy at 
seeing him again. Without showing any resent¬ 
ment, he accosted him in this cordial manner, 
“My son, why have you delayed to come? cer¬ 
tainly your brethren and I have much desired 
to see you.” He then ordered him to ascend 
the pulpit the next day, which was the feast 
of S. Michael, and the Sunday of the chapter. 
He obeyed without hesitation, not alleging in 
excuse, as he might reasonably have done, the 
little time for preparation given him. He treat¬ 
ed in his sermon of the constant care and provi¬ 
dence of God over His church, and over all 
the faithful, and of the debt of gratitude we all 
owe to our heavenly Father for whatever good 
we possess, and for His deputing one of His holy 
angels to watch over each of us. Having chosen 
as his text the verse of the 107th Psalm, “ Who 
will bring me into the strong city? Who will 
lead me into Edom?” he thus addressed the 
general: “My Very Rev. Father, this verse that 
I have taken as the subject of my discourse, 
teaches us that he who is a citizen of heaven, is 
a stranger and pilgrim here below.” In saying 
these words our Lord gave him so strong an 
interior feeling of tenderness, that he fell into 
an ecstasy, not being able to speak, yet shedding 
floods of tears in the presence of that illustrious 
audience, who were surprised and astonished at 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


45 


seeing him preach so divinely with his eyes and 
by his silence. After having remained some time 
in this state, by a violent effort to repress this 
powerful feeling he recovered himself, and re¬ 
turning to his subject, he pursued it with a 
reasoning so sublime and elevated, that the 
theologians who were present in great numbers 
from divers places and of divers orders, all 
agreed, that humanly speaking, it was utterly 
impossible he could have learned such eloquence 
in any other school than in that of the Holy 
Spirit, who had Himself inspired him with it. 

A similar thing happened to him when he was 
prior at Burgos, and was giving the habit to a 
novice. All the town collected on this occasion, 
knowing that the Saint would open the ceremony 
by an exhortation they were most desirous to 
hear. The tender age of the novice led him to 
take as the subject of his discourse these words 
of the Canticle, “Soror nostra parvula est et 
ubera non habet.” As soon as he began to 
sound the depths of these words, he fell into an 
ecstasy as before, and remained a full quarter 
of an hour without speaking. Then recovering 
himself, and throwing his eyes around him he 
said, “Brethren, I ask your pardon. I have a 
poor and weak heart, and I feel ashamed of 
being so often overcome on these occasions; but 
I will endeavour to repair my fault.” Upon 
which he resumed his subject, concluding it with 
wonderful success. Father John of S. Michael, 
prior of the Augustines of Saragossa, who was 
present, relates that these raptures were very 


46 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLAITOVA. 


frequent with the Saint, especially in choir as¬ 
sisting at the office, where he was often seen 
elevated from the ground. The ecstasy into 
which he fell on one Ascension day was con¬ 
sidered the longest and most wonderful. When 
they began to sing the antiphon Videntibus illis 
at the hour of Nones, he entered so completely 
into the words, that it seemed as if his soul had 
abandoned his body from the morning until five 
in the evening, in order to accompany in spirit 
the glorious triumph of our Lord on the Mount 
of Olives; there appearing not the least sign 
of life in him all that time. It was also no¬ 
ticed on another occasion that he was divinely 
transported in spirit upon Mount Tabor when 
he came to those words, Domine bonum est nos 
hie esse; imagining himself among the apostles 
and prophets, contemplating the Son of God in 
His glorious transfiguration. Yet far from being 
exalted by these favours, bestowed on him by 
our Lord for the purpose of revealing the deep 
reverence His servant had for His Holy Word, 
he endeavoured as much as possible to hide 
them from the eyes of all men. 


CHAPTER IX. 

OF HIS CONDUCT IN THE RELIGIOUS OFFICES 
IMPOSED ON HIM. 

In addition to the graces and virtues already 
mentioned, S. Thomas of Villanova possessed 
a singular prudence and discretion; and he was 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


47 


endowed with good sense and a solid judgment, 
accompanied with that dovelike simplicity so 
highly recommended to His disciples by the Son 
of God. Every one struck with such extraor¬ 
dinary acquirements, with his holiness, and the 
admirable nature of his instructions, hastened 
eagerly to him, to obtain the benefit of his 
counsels for the regulation of tlieir lives or the 
quieting of their consciences. 

He was admired and respected by all the 
great men of the court. Don Juan de Tavera, 
cardinal archbishop of Toledo and constable of 
Castile, never undertook any thing of the slight¬ 
est difficulty without first consulting him, so 
great was the opinion he entertained of his wis¬ 
dom. 

At the sacred tribunal of penance he was 
unequalled, uniting gentleness, firmness, and 
prudence together, in an incomparable manner. 
His thirst for the salvation of souls was insatiable. 
He was naturally so benign and easily led to 
compassion, that the moment he found a pen¬ 
itent at his feet confessing his sins, his heart 
was softened and his words full of tenderness. 
However great his love of retirement, he was 
always willing to quit it for the duties of the 
confessional, to change the sweets of solitude in 
order to soothe the heart of the mourner in that 
holy Sacrament, Never did he show any sign of 
impatience or disgust, however wearisome or 
hateful the matter of confession might be. On 
the contrary, he wept and groaned with those 
who wept and groaned; and while showing them 


48 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


the enormity of their offences, to lead them to 
repentance and a true sorrow, he at the same 
time consoled them, and encouraged them to 
wipe out their sins by tears and a holy and sa¬ 
lutary penance. 

His boundless charity, which led him to en¬ 
counter any labour for the good of souls, often 
drew from the very edge of the precipice to the 
gate of salvation, those who at the sight of their 
sins would otherwise have rushed headlong into 
the gulf of despair. 

That conduct which made people of the world 
revere him as a saint, endeared him especially 
to the religious of his province, who soon raised 
him to the offices of the order, without waiting 
for the time of profession, as their constitution 
demanded. They rightly judged that the defect 
of time was more than sufficiently supplied by 
his extraordinary merit. For several years he 
was superior of the principal convents of Castile, 
among others of Salamanca and Burgos. At the 
latter of these he loved especially to dwell, not 
only on account of the quiet and tranquillity of 
the place, but because of the devotion he bore 
to the holy crucifix, which by its miraculous 
sweat renders the church of the Augustines, 
where it is honoured, one of the most famous 
in all Spain. The convent at Valladolid was 
also blessed for some time with his superinten¬ 
dence, the emperor, who resided there, being 
desirous of his presence for his own spiritual 
benefit. 

Though called by holy obedience to command, 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


49 


he behaved towards all as if he were their in¬ 
ferior. No change was perceptible in him, ex¬ 
cept that he was noticed to be more zealous 
and fervent than ever in all the exercises of 
religion. He considered that as in authority he 
was raised above others, he was bound to set 
them a good example by surpassing them in 
the practice of every virtue. He meditated con¬ 
tinually on the admirable advice given by 
S. Augustine, in his rules, to the superiors of 
his order, where he tells them that they ought 
to impress deeply on their minds, that the only 
happiness of commanding consists in the power 
it bestows of serving others. That it is cer¬ 
tainly necessary that inferiors honour and res¬ 
pect their superiors; but that the duty of su¬ 
periors consists in humbling themselves, from 
the fear of God, even at the feet of those they 
command; in setting them an example in every 
good work; in correcting haughty spirits; in 
encouraging the pusillanimous; in bearing with 
all; in being ready to take the penances of the 
weak, and to be cautious and tender in imposing 
them on any. He further adds, that although 
both may be necessary, it is far better to gain 
inferiors by love than by fear; and that it should 
never be forgotten that Almighty God will call 
superiors to give a strict account of all those 
He has committed to their care. 

St. Thomas acquitted himself well of his 
charge. He saw the importance and excellence 
of this advice of S. Augustine’s, and practised 
it to the very letter. He was the first to en- 
5 


50 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


gage in the most abject and menial offices of 
the house, and others, admiring his conduct, 
soon imitated him. His exemplary humility su¬ 
perseded the necessity of commanding. All obeyed 
his very wishes with a ready cheerfulness, seeing 
one whose holiness was revered not only through¬ 
out Spain but the whole world, treating them 
with the affability and affectionate familiarity of 
an equal. Yet he well knew the art of uniting 
gravity with humility in such a manner, that 
every one paid him the respect due to his situ¬ 
ation; his familiarity never lessening the dig¬ 
nity of his office. 

He laboured incessantly to lead his religious 
on to perfection. He ardently desired that 
they should be pious and modest in their de¬ 
portment, devout at the altar and the divine 
office, and at all times filled with a spirit of 
interior recollection, without which he consi¬ 
dered all exterior show of religion as utterly 
useless. He mourned as deeply for the sins of 
those under his authority as if he had committed 
them‘himself; fasting, and disciplining himself 
even to blood, for faults in which he had no 
other share than what his charity induced him 
to take on himself. He was not of the number of 
those whom the Evangelist reproves as loading 
the shoulders of others with heavy burdens whilst 
refusing to help them with one of their fingers; 
on the contrary, he would never accept of any 
dispensation from the strict observance of the 
rule himself, and yet to others he was lenient 
and gentle, releasing them from the performance 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 51 

of certain things when he could do so without 
prejudice to the laws of God. 

As he loved peace and tranquillity, he was 
the declared enemy of all kinds of novelties, 
because he considered them as almost invariably 
the fruitful seed of troubles and dissensions. 
For this reason he changed nothing in his mon¬ 
astery, but strictly adhered to the laws of his 
ancestors. He was a great lover also of justice 
and equity, which caused him to be very exact 
in the infliction of those punishments deserved 
by any of his religious. At the time when the 
offence was committed, he said nothing to them, 
but waited a fitting opportunity to reprove them, 
using gentleness or severity as he thought most 
advisable, but always with profit to the offender, 
who being no longer under the influence of the 
passion which caused his fault, received the cor¬ 
rection of his superior with gratitude and hu¬ 
mility, and as a mark of his prudence and love. 

Sometimes even a single glance of his eye 
was sufficient to cure their spiritual maladies. 
At other times, though he knew by the light of 
the Spirit of God all their tempers and inclina¬ 
tions, he would conceal his knowledge, and ap¬ 
pear not to notice the faults of some of his 
religious, hoping that without his speaking to 
them, God would open their eyes, and provide 
the remedy. Of several instances which might 
be given in proof of this, one will be sufficient. 
When prior at Burgos, he knew that one of his 
religious. Father John Rincon, had fallen into 
a very considerable fault, and richly deserved 


52 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


punishment; vet he permitted him to escape, 
saying nothing to him of what had passed. But 
God, to whom he recommended him in his prayers, 
accompanied with fasts and disciplines, touched 
his heart with so lively a sense of the greatness 
of his fault, that he made a sincere confession, 
and was ever afterwards regarded by his bre¬ 
thren as a perfect model of a religious. Now 
as this Father John knew that our Saint could 
not be ignorant of his fall, he was astonished 
that he treated him with his usual kindness, and 
even gave him the preference to his brethren 
in choosing him as his companion when he went 
to take possession of the archbishopric of Valen- 
tia. Quite overcome with this distinction, the 
father asked him why, with the knowledge which 
he knew he must possess of his misery, he had 
honoured him by this choice. “ My son,” re¬ 
plied he, “ it is true that I know your fault, but 
I also know you have done penance for it. Love 
God, and serve Him faithfully.” 

His patience in bearing with the infirmities 
of all made his government mild and amiable. 
He measured each, not according to his strength, 
but his charity. He condescended to the weak, 
aroused the indolent, and encouraged the cow¬ 
ardly; giving counsel to the simple, and making 
himself all things to all men. Though his care 
of the sick had always been great, he increased it 
tenfold when he became superior. All the time 
he could spare was given to them; serving, as¬ 
sisting, and consoling them. Whatever were his 
occupations, he never passed a day without visit- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


53 


ing the infirmary two or three times, and al¬ 
ways contrived to meet the physician there. 
He fed them with his own hand, and rendered 
them every other assistance with as much love 
and tenderness as if each had been a beloved 
brother. He also provided for the whole com¬ 
munity with the same care and charity, anti¬ 
cipating all their wants in so thoughtful a man¬ 
ner, that his religious were never deprived of 
any thing which their rule allowed. 


CHAPTER X. 

ST. THOMAS IS ELECTED PROVINCIAL TWICE CONSECU¬ 
TIVELY IN TWO DIFFERENT PROVINCES. 

As he naturally loved solitude, and had no 
greater joy than that which he experienced when 
praying in his cell at the foot of his crucifix, or 
in studying the Holy Scriptures, the charges im¬ 
posed on him in the order were a heavy burden 
to him. Nevertheless, having through obedience 
once accepted them, he made a virtue of neces¬ 
sity, to use a common expression, and offered as 
a sacrifice to his Lord, the distaste and repug¬ 
nance he felt in commanding; and, without 
showing his dislike, he performed his duties with 
all the prudence and charity which has been 
already described. 

On surrendering the office of prior, he was 
twice elected provincial in the two provinces 
into which Castile had been divided by an 



54 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


apostolic brief of Clement VII., to facilitate the 
visiting of convents by diminishing the extent of 
the province. Both demanded him with many 
entreaties; but at it was the province of Anda¬ 
lusia in favour of which this division had been 
made, it was preferred to that of Castile, which 
did not obtain him as provincial till the next tri¬ 
ennial election. He made use of every means his 
ingenious humility could suggest, to be exempt 
from this charge. He endeavoured in both cases 
to persuade the fathers not to elect him, alleging 
at first his incapacity for such an office; and 
seeing this reason was not accepted, he had 
recourse to another, which he had not yet em¬ 
ployed. He represented to them that it was for 
the glory of God and the salvation of souls, that 
he should apply himself rather to preaching than 
to the office of provincial, which demanded a 
man’s whole time and energies, and which would 
be far better filled by many of the fathers more 
worthy and more fitted for it than himself. He 
depended upon this argument, and thought the 
fathers would have regard to the glory of God 
which seemed concerned in it, and would press 
him no further. But it happened otherwise. 
They answered him, that not to submit to an 
election which had been made with all the proper 
forms, and not to accept a charge in which he 
could render such good service to God and the 
province, was evidently to resist His holy will; 
that, certainly, according to the constitutions of 
the order, no religious could be forced to accept 
an office, having the care of souls, against his 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


55 


will; but still, they could not see how he could 
free himself from the sin of disobedience, if he 
refused the whole body of the province, which 
had elected him so canonically, and which per¬ 
sisted so steadily in its demand. Being at length 
conquered by these and similar reasons, he acqui¬ 
esced, and yielded to their wishes. 

On his election he began at once to consider 
that as his power and authority increased, so 
ought his virtue also. “ For,” said he, “ as I am 
greater and more elevated in station, I ought to 
be more humble, holy, merciful, devout, and 
given to prayer, since I have more need than 
ever of the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit, that 
it may please Him to enlighten me in the dis¬ 
charge of an office on which depends the good or 
evil, both spiritual and temporal, of the whole 
province.” He immediately set about making his 
visits, and overlooked all the convents with an 
indefatigable zeal. He encouraged the good re¬ 
ligious, and excited them to go onwards in the 
road to perfection; the negligent and the idle he 
reproved; he instructed the ignorant, and exhort¬ 
ed each one of the order to labour for his salva¬ 
tion, in serving God faithfully, according to the 
spirit of his vocation. 

Amongst others, there were four things which 
he particularly recommended in his visits. The 
first was, that they should all be devout and 
exemplary in their conduct during the divine 
office and the celebration of holy mass; and that 
the churches and the altars should be kept clean 
and properly dressed, “ inasmuch,” said he, “ as 


56 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


they are the portals through which all blessings 
come to us, both from God and man.” In the 
second place, he urged strongly the necessity of 
frequent spiritual reading and meditation, com¬ 
paring it to the natural heat of the stomach, 
which digests, strengthens, and preserves the 
different parts of the body in health. “ In like 
manner,” said he, “spiritual reading recollects 
and strengthens the mind of the religious, ma¬ 
king him bring devotion to the altar and atten¬ 
tion to the choir ; giving him the spirit of ready 
obedience, endurance in labours, strength against 
the snares and temptations of the devil, and, in 
short, arranging and disposing all the feelings of 
the heart so skilfully, that everything succeeds 
happily with those who practise it in the spirit 
it demands.” The third thing which he enforced 
as most important and necessary in the religious 
life, was peace; representing to them the advan¬ 
tages and blessings which that daughter of heaven 
brings on earth to men of good-will; and if by 
chance he found some restless unquiet spirit in 
the convent troubling the brethren, he punished 
him severely as a disturber of the public repose. 
In the fourth place he earnestly solicited his re¬ 
ligious to use well every moment of their time, 
to occupy themselves in whatever holy and useful 
employment best suited their inclinations, and 
to fly idleness as the pest and entire ruin of all 
virtue. 

He so mortally hated the waste of time in 
monasteries, that though he issued as few com¬ 
mands as possible to the superiors, lest he might 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


57 


burden their consciences, yet to remedy the fault 
of idleness, he made use of his authority in en¬ 
joining them, in virtue of holy obedience, to 
reprove for the first time with mildness those 
religious who were seen idling here and there 
about the house, but if the fault was repeated, 
to correct them in full chapter. For a third 
offence he adjudged the punishment of the dis¬ 
cipline, and if after this the fault continued, he 
ordered that the punishment should be augment¬ 
ed until amendment ensued. 

To lead his religious to a love of regular ob¬ 
servance, he used towards them the same affa¬ 
bility and condescension that he employed in 
gaining strangers and penitents to a love of God. 
His horror of sin was so great, that he would 
willingly have laid down his life to prevent the 
commission of only a single one. And when 
some unhappy sinner presented himself before 
him, he received him with love and tenderness, 
after the example of the good Shepherd, who 
carries His wandering lamb on His shoulders, 
rejoicing in bringing it back to the flock. It is 
impossible to say how many souls he gained to 
God by means which his prudence and charity 
invented to win their hearts. 

In his public admonitions he endeavoured to 
edify all, without giving offence to any one. At 
the chapter which opened his visit, he always 
began his discourse by giving general instructions 
on whatever subject he thought most necessary; 
but in the latter part, when it was absolutely 
necessary to go into particulars, his reproofs and 


58 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


corrections were made with so much discretion 
and suavity, that they pierced the heart without 
arousing the pride of any, because, though his 
words were grave and severe, they were entirely 
free from the least shadow of bitterness or con¬ 
tempt. 

His zeal for the spiritual improvement of his 
religious did not make him forget their temporal 
interests, on which he bestowed all the care his 
office required. Our Lord had indeed given him 
the true monastic spirit and love of the com¬ 
munity. It was well known that he retained 
none of the valuable presents which the emperor 
made him, and which excited the envy of the 
grandees of Spain. Whatever was given him 
was thrown into the common mass, and nothing 
reserved for his own use. His cell, his bed, his 
clothing, even his books, which were few and 
merely those which were necessary, indeed every 
thing which he possessed, breathed the spirit of 
poverty and religious simplicity; he conformed 
himself in the use of ordinary necessaries to the 
lowest brother in the order. 

Of the numerous things which were offered 
him he only accepted those which could be 
applied to the service of the monastery, and to 
the common profit, not to his own use. Leaving 
Valladolid for Burgos, where he had been elected 
superior, certain presents were offered him by 
persons of distinction, which he gratefully accept¬ 
ed, because given him to use as he thought best; 
but he refused the offer of a casket containing 
three hundred crowns of gold, because it was to 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


59 


be applied to his own use and the expenses of 
his journey. He humbly thanked the giver, but 
returned the casket unopened, saying that he 
had no need of it. When pressed by this friend, 
who complained that he had accepted gifts from 
others, he replied, “Yes, Sir, I have taken alms 
from some of my friends, but they were given 
not for myself, but for the convent of Burgos, 
where I am going. If your gift had not been 
assigned for my especial benefit, I should without 
doubt have accepted it, otherwise I should have 
injured the house of Burgos, which greatly 
stands in need of assistance.” 


CHAPTER XL 

ST. THOMAS IS ALLIED IN FRIENDSHIP WITH THOSE 
ONLY WHOM HE KNOWS TO BE VIRTUOUS AND 
FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF GOD. 

“Like loves like,” is an axiom, the truth of 
which is universally recognised, not only in the 
ordinary productions of nature, but also in those 
of grace and the farthest removed from matter. 
We see every day that the saint and the just 
man withdraw as much as possible from the 
company of the wicked, to associate with those 
who are professedly virtuous, and who by the 
secret motions of the same zeal, endeavour, like 
themselves, to bring honour and glory to their 
common Master, remembering the answer made 
by our Lord to him who interrupted His sermon 



GO 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


by informing Him that His mother and His 
brethren were without seeking Him. “ Who is 
My mother and who are My brethren ? And 
stretching forth His hand to His disciples, He 
said, Behold My mother and My brethren. For 
whosoever shall do the will of My Father who is 
in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and 
mother.” Our Saint, who had impressed deeply 
on his heart the precepts of this Divine Legis¬ 
lator, following His example, regarded no one 
with the eyes of flesh and blood, but only with 
those of charity, which have God for their object. 
He never attached himself by friendship to those 
whose virtues were not well known, and who, by 
a kindred feeling of piety and devotion, sought 
with him to advance the glory of God, and the 
good of souls. His inclination for retirement left 
him very little time for conversation with his 
religious, and still less with seculars, unless 
their spiritual good, which he endeavoured to 
procure at all times and in all places, drew him 
from his beloved solitude. So that whenever he 
was seen to associate familiarly with any one, it 
was immediately decided that he could be no 
ordinary person, but one in whom God had 
placed great gifts, to be employed conjointly with 
the Saint’s in Ilis service. 

Among his most intimate friends was Father 
Diego of Yertaviglio, twice provincial of the 
Indies, where he built three monasteries of 
the order at Ucarco, Talaicapan, and Tototepee, 
after having converted an infinite number of 
pagans to the faith. Also the Fathers Salazar, 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


61 


Jerome Melendes, Balthazar Malgaregio, Al- 
phonsus Alvarado, and John Baptist of Moja, 
all great and celebrated religious, whom the 
Spirit of God had filled with an ardent and truly 
apostolic zeal to be the first to plant the stan¬ 
dard of the cross, and announce the gospel to 
Peru and the Moluccas; our Lord enabling them 
to work there several miracles to establish their 
authority and their doctrine in the eyes of the 
barbarians. 

It was with such persons that S. Thomas form¬ 
ed his habits and contracted his friendships, 
drawn to them by their virtues and holiness of 
life. lie considered not the advantages of no¬ 
bility, knowledge, or any of those qualities, which 
men of the world idolize. He frequently repeated 
those words of the Saviour, “ He is My brother 
and My friend who does the will of My Father.” 
And in fact, he had much more pleasure in dis¬ 
coursing with a simple brother whom he knew 
to be pious and faithful to his vocation, than 
with the learned, who had less of humility and 
devotion. It was the same with seculars; how¬ 
ever rich and powerful they might be, if they 
were not wise, devout, and retired, he was never 
familiar with them, nor admitted them to his 
friendship, as he did the poor virtuous man, 
though he might be despised and disregarded by 
every one. The instance which he himself relates 
in his first sermon on the Blessed Sacrament, will 
suffice to show how much he loved, and in what 
manner he cultivated piety, wherever he met 
with it. 


62 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


A young man who had been brought from 
Judaism to the true faith by a miraculous and 
extraordinary effect of the goodness of God, 
found that although he had been washed from 
the guilt of original sin in the salutary waters 
of baptism, yet there existed in the minds of 
the Catholics around him so strong a feeling 
of horror against his extraction and his former 
belief, that they all shunned his approach and 
avoided having any intercourse with him. S. 
Thomas, hearing this, admitted him to his friend¬ 
ship, often heard his confessions, and treated him 
with the kindest familiarity, seeing in him that 
pure and lively faith which made him agreeable 
in the sight of the Divine Majesty, and totally dis¬ 
regarding the false notions of men. Soon after¬ 
wards this new Christian fell ill, and as it was 
uncertain whether he could recover or not, he 
sent for our Saint, not only to receive from him 
the consolations which his state required, but 
also to make a recital of something which our 
Lord had deigned in his infinite goodness to 
make known to him, and which he though ought 
not to be buried with him in the tomb. Until 
this time he had preserved a strict secresy on 
the subject, having learnt that God wishes not 
that his servants should publish the extraordi¬ 
nary favours and graces bestowed on them. 
“Father,” said he, “I have troubled you to 
come here both to aid me to die well, and to for¬ 
tify me by your holy counsels in that last pas¬ 
sage, and also to open my heart to you on a 
subject which I have hitherto kept secret. You 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


63 


should know then, Father, that as I was once 
going with another young Hebrew to a place 
where my father had sent me on some business, 
we discoursed together of the Messiah, saying 
to each other, what a great happiness it would 
be if He should come in our days, and we should 
see Him with our own eyes. Speaking in this 
way as still covered with the thick veil which 
blinds the eyes of the Jews, the heavens appeared 
to us to open and to disclose so bright a light 
that the darkness of the night vanished in a mo¬ 
ment. On relating this to my father, he told me 
that whenever the heavens open in this manner, 
it is a sign that God intends to bestow some 
favour on men, and that it ought to be demanded 
with submission to the will of God, but also 
with a firm hope of obtaining it. My companion 
and I followed this counsel, and redoubled our 
prayers and entreaties that it would please the 
King of Heaven to send us the Messiah, for whom, 
we so ardently longed. In the midst of our 
prayers, at their greatest fervour, behold, we 
both saw at the same moment, in a globe of 
light, a resplendent chalice and a host above, 
like that which the Christian priest elevates in 
saying mass. At first the vision frightened us, 
but we were soon consoled by means of the 
heavenly light which shone in our hearts, and 
made us feel and know that there was no other 
Messiah than He whom the Christians adore, 
and that the truths which they believe and teach 
are those alone which ought to be received in 
all humility and confidence. We returned a 


G4 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


thousand thanks to our good Lord for His mer¬ 
ciful condescension to us poor miserable sinners. 
I took care to say nothing to my father of 
what happened, still less did I disclose to him 
the design I had formed of embracing Christi¬ 
anity, from fear of the ill treatment I should 
experience at his hands. But on the first oc¬ 
casion which presented itself, I failed not to 
receive holy baptism, and I have ever since 
lived in the observance of the evangelical law 
of my Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The devout reader will be able to judge by 
so happy a beginning, to what a height of per¬ 
fection this new plant of the Church by degrees 
attained, and whether our Saint was not right 
in cherishing him so carefully, notwithstanding 
the unjust aversion that others entertained to¬ 
wards him on account of his birth. Our Saint 
was certainly gifted with the power of discover¬ 
ing the holiness of others; he sometimes even 
saw our Lord pouring His light into his soul, in 
order to penetrate the souls of others, to judge 
of their future conduct, and what would injure 
or advance their salvation. 

As he made his visit to the convent of Seville 
where the Noviciate was, learning from the Father 
Master that one of the novices had been tempted 
by the instigation of his relations, to leave the 
order of S. Augustine for another, he addressed 
him in this manner: “ Go, my son, recommend 
yourself to God, and join your prayers with 
mine, that it will please Him to make known 
to me what he expects from you, and whether 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


65 


it is for jour good to make this chango which 
jour relations desire.” At the end of three dajs 
he summoned him into his presence and said 
to him, “ Mj son, I tell jou absolutelj, that it 
is not the will of God that jou should quit this 
habit for another. Your first vocation is with¬ 
out doubt the best, and if under pretence of 
finding something better elsewhere, jou follow 
the promptings of flesh and blood in preference 
to the advice I here give jou, and leave this 
monasterj for that which jou mention, and where 
jou are onlj called bj the consideration that 
one of jour relations is a religious there, I de¬ 
clare to jou on the part of God, that jou will 
never have the happiness of serving Him either 
there or anjwhere else.” The novice believed 
him, shut his ears to the persuasions of his rela¬ 
tions, vanquished the demon who made use of 
them to seduce him, made his profession happilj, 
and became one of the most celebrated religious 
of his time, conformablj to what the Saint had 
predicted, who sent him some time afterwards 
to pursue his studies at Salamanca. 


CHAPTER XII. 

ST. THOMAS REFUSES THE ARCHBISHOPRIC OF GRANADA 
AND ACCEPTS THAT OF VALENTI A. 

While S. Thomas was occupied in visiting the 
convents of his province, and with an ardent 
zeal endeavouring to promote the spiritual web 
6 


66 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


fare of the religious under liis care, our Lord, 
who destined him for an employment more con¬ 
ducive to His Glory and more useful to His 
Church, in order to exercise his humility, led 
the emperor, without any solicitation whatever, 
to name him to the archbishopric of Granada 
then vacant. This sovereign well knew his merits, 
and that it would be pleasing to God and a sig¬ 
nal benefit to this diocese, to give them so holy 
and learned a man as prelate. He, therefore, 
summoned him into his presence, to inform him 
of his choice ; but the Saint with the greatest 
possible modesty entreated his majesty to revoke 
it in favour of another. And though all his 
friends joined their entreaties, he could never 
be persuaded to accept it. As the emperor knew 
that S. Thomas was himself provincial, and had 
no superior in Spain who could command him 
under pain of censure to accept the dignity, and 
as the affairs of Granada were in a state to brook 
no delay, so that he could not wait for the orders 
of the general who was at Rome, he pressed him 
no further, and appointed another to fill that 
high station. 

The Saints are so humbled by the knowledge 
they have of themselves, and the clear view they 
possess of their own weakness and misery, that 
they consider themselves unworthy of the em¬ 
ployments and honours offered them. Moses is 
chosen and called by God himself to be the chief 
of His people. He knows that He who speaks 
is all powerful, and can provide the means ne¬ 
cessary for the accomplishment of His will. He 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 67 

sees him work miracles to encourage him to un¬ 
dertake the journey to Egypt for the delivery 
of his nation; and yet he cannot resolve to go. 
He entreats God to dispense with his services, 
and to send another more capable than himself. 
S. Thomas, like the prophet, was afraid to un¬ 
dertake so weighty a charge, which his humility 
represented as too much for his weakness to 
sustain; and when the emperor yielded, his joy 
was extreme at his escape, and he continued to 
discharge his duties as prior till the year 1544, 
when the emperor named him for the archbishop¬ 
ric of Valentia, which his uncle, Don George 
of Austria, quitted for Liege, to which diocese 
he was called by an express brief of Paul the 
Third. 

It is true that the emperor, who was then in 
Flanders, did not at first nominate our Saint; at 
least he had no intention at the beginning of 
naming him, but a religious of S. Jerome, be¬ 
cause he knew his distaste for the episcopate 
by his refusal of that of Granada. But our 
Lord overruled the designs of the emperor in 
the following manner, to show that the election 
was the work of God, not of man. When he 
was about to sign the commission for the ap¬ 
pointment of the bishop, he sharply reproved the 
secretary for not having followed his orders, and 
for having written the name of Father Thomas 
of Villanova, instead of the religious he had men¬ 
tioned. The secretary assured him that he heard 
the name of Father Thomas, and no other, and 
that he had expressly commanded him to write 


68 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


the commission in his favour, but that if his 
majesty pleased the fault could soon be repaired 
by writing another. The emperor pondered on 
what his secretary had done, and burst forth in 
praises to God, who by his secretary had made 
known to him His holy will. He immediately 
signed the commission which he sent by a courier 
express to Valladolid, where Philip the Second, 
his son and successor, who then governed Spain, 
held his court. The joy was excessive throughout 
the city when the promotion of the holy religious 
to the episcopate was made known. Every one 
considered this dignity as a recompense to which 
by his merits he was justly entitled. But the 
prince especially, who loved and respected him 
as a great servant of God, was much gratified, 
and immediately sent a messenger to the mon¬ 
astery with his father’s letter. As they were 
saying compline when he arrived, the Saint, who 
was assisting, desired he should wait till the 
office was finished; then going to him in the 
cloister he received the commission from his 
hand, and in a grave and serious manner hum¬ 
bly thanked his majesty for the honour done him, 
at the same time saying he would not fail to 
wait on the prince the next day, to offer him 
his thanks in person, and to inform him of what 
he should resolve to do in this conjuncture. An 
author who has written his Life, says, that hav¬ 
ing assembled his religious, he reprimanded the 
brother porter, and gave him a severe penance 
for the irreverence he had committed in enter¬ 
ing the choir when he came to tell him one 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


69 


waited to see him, and that by his elevated voice, 
and the joy which appeared in his countenance, 
he had made known to the brethren the object 
of the messenger. 

The next day he went to the palace, and 
having expressed his gratitude to his imperial 
Majesty, and to his highness, for the honour con¬ 
ferred on him, he added, that being fully aware 
of his own insufficiency, he most humbly entreat¬ 
ed the prince not to command him to accept a 
charge that he was unfitted for, and said that he 
had made a resolution never to become a bishop, 
having enough to do as a simple religious, in 
labouring for the salvation of his soul, without 
taking the responsibility of a multitude of others. 
The prince replied, that ho should think well of 
what he was doing, and consider the profit the 
diocese of Valentia would receive from his piety 
and instruction. Still resolved not to accept it, 
he returned to the prince two or three times, 
reiterating his entreaties not to be exposed to so 
manifest a danger, and saying that after having 
recommended the affair to God, he was still in 
the same resolution, never to accept a bishopric. 
At last, throwing himself at his feet, he returned 
the commission to the prince, humbly entreating 
his pardon for so using him, since he could do no 
otherwise. When he returned to the monastery, 
he found there Don Peter of Pelasco, constable of 
Castile, Don Francis de Los Colos, commander of 
Leon, and several other lords who were much at¬ 
tached to him, and who had come to persuade 
him to take the care of the diocese of Valentia. 


70 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


They placed before him in strong terms the op¬ 
portunities it would afford him of advancing the 
glory of God and the salvation of souls; and 
urged the pleasure it would give the prince and 
his imperial Majesty, and the displeasure they 
would feel if he presisted in his refusal. Don 
Juan de Tavera, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, 
also went to him, and taking him aside into his 
cell, told him that a religious ought not to be so 
firm or so attached to his own opinions, but that, 
giving up his own feelings to those of his friends, 
he ought to believe, knowing their affection for 
him, and their judgment and experience, that 
they were the best judges of what was good for 
him. To resist the will of his prince on this 
occasion was to resist the will of God, because he 
well knew that he was not elected by the voice 
of man, but by a special and visible order of 
Divine Providence. 

Notwithstanding all that could be said, he still 
remained firm in his resolution. At length, 
throwing himself at the feet of the cardinal, the 
tears streaming from his eyes, he besought him 
to urge him no further, but, on the contrary, if he 
loved him, to do him the favour to inform the 
emperor that he declined the archbishopric of 
Valentia, and to give him his reasons for so 
doing, that his Majesty might not be offended at 
his conduct. The cardinal, seeing him inflexible, 
and despairing of making him yield, left him and 
returned to the prince to inform him of what had 
passed. He assured him that there was but one 
way for his highness to obtain his wish, which 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


71 


was to write to the provincial, and get him to use 
his authority in commanding the Saint to accept 
the charge under pain of censure. 

The letter of the prince was followed by several 
others on the same subject to Father Francis of 
Nieve, at that time provincial; who, moved by 
zeal for the glory of God, and the salvation of 
souls, and considering the quality and the rea¬ 
sons of the persons who wrote to him, and being 
also well acquainted with the extraordinary 
merits of F. Thomas, whose religious and disciple 
he had been, he wrote to him the following letter: 

“ Rev. Father, 

“I have received a letter from his Highness, in 
which he informs me that his Majesty has ap¬ 
pointed your Reverence to the archbishopric of 
Valentia, and that you have refused the same. 
I hereby command you within twenty-four hours 
after the receipt of this letter, to accept the 
archbishopric of Valentia. And to give you 
merit in so doing, I command it in virtue of holy 
obedience, and under pain of excommunication, 
Trina canonica monitione praemissa. I issue this 
command, because I know well that God will be 
served and honoured by you, and his imperial 
Majesty satisfied. 

“ I pray our Lord ever to have you in His holy 
keeping, for the well being of His church. 

“ At Toledo. This 2nd of August, 1544. 

“From the Very Rev. Father Francis of Nieve, 

Provincial.” 


72 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


He humbly bowed his neck to the yoke of 
obedience, and had nothing to reply to this fresh 
command; considering the voice of his superior 
in that letter as the voice of God himself. 

Soon after this, he wrote to the Very Rev. 
Father General, as well to inform him of his 
promotion, as to show him that the charge which 
he had undertaken would not allow of his execu¬ 
ting the commission which the general chapter 
held at Rome the preceding year had given him, 
to correct the Constitutions of the Order, together 
with two fathers of Italy, and one of France, 
called Father Peter Guerente. I will here give 
his letter, to show the reader through what door 
this Saint entered into the dignity of the prelacy. 

“To the Very Rev. Father Jerome Seripand, 
Prior General of the Order of S. Augustine, my 
Father. 

“Very Rev. Father, grace and peace to you 
in the Lord, &c. 

“I have not written sooner to your Very Rev. 
Paternity, because we have no safe road to you 
since the passages of Rome are occupied. But 
this is an occasion which obliges me to send a 
courier express, to inform you that the emperor 
has named me to the archbishopric of Valentia, 
without the solicitation of any one; indeed I had 
not the least idea of it myself. This induces 
many to believe that my election was the work 
of God, not that of man. Although I consider 
it more useful and advantageous to myself to 
continue in the monastery where I had made my 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


73 


profession, and peacefully to enjoy the sweets I 
found there; nevertheless the father provincial 
commanded under the pain of censure, that on 
the receipt of his letter I should consent to my 
election conformably to the intention of his 
Majesty; so that I could do no otherwise than 
receive it, being forced by the absolute command 
of my superior. I write these things to you, 
Very Rev. Father, knowing you love me and 
consider me as your son, and I beseech you to 
give me your benediction, and to approve and 
ratify what has been done in this matter, since 
I have had no other desire than not to resist 
authority, or the designs that our Lord has for 
me, hoping that of His great goodness He will 
give me strength and power necessary to the dis¬ 
charge of so important an office, when my only 
object is to labour for His glory and His service. 
I must, moreover, inform you, that as soon as his 
Holiness shall have sent mo his confirmation, it 
will be impossible for me to accomplish what 
your Very Rev. Paternity, conjointly with our 
general chapter, has ordered concerning the refor¬ 
mation of our Constitutions. Nevertheless, when¬ 
ever any occasion presents itself, wherein I can 
be of any service to you, Rev. Father, or the 
interest of the order, I shall always be ready to 
embrace it with joy, as a very obedient son. 

“ I pray our Lord to preserve and comfort you, 
Rev. Father, for His glory and the good of our 
holy religion. 

“ Valladolid, August 12th, 1544, 

“ From Rev. Father, your very obedient son, 

“ Brother Thomas of Villanova.” 


74 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


This would seem to be the place to mention 
several excellent letters sent him by persons of 
distinction, to congratulate him, and to show 
their joy at seeing him by his merits raised to 
the episcopate. And principally that of Pope 
Paul III. deserves notice, who seems, in the Bull 
of his elevation, so much struck with what he 
had heard of his piety and doctrine, as to be 
ready to canonise him while living. So also 
Philip II. writes of him to the Duke of Calabria, 
Viceroy of Valentia, in the highest terms of 
praise, not to mention several others that I will 
pass over to avoid prolixity. 

In the same proportion as his election was a 
matter of joy and congratulation to others, so 
was it to himself the cause of the greatest pain 
and sadness, when he considered with what a 
heavy cross he was loaded, in taking so many 
souls under his care, and so rendering himself 
responsible for the Blood that the Son of God 
had shed for their salvation. This induced 
him, after he had received the bull, to decline 
any more visits of congratulation, being unable 
to restrain the tears which flowed from his eyes 
whenever he thought of the loss of the repose and 
security of the cloister, and the dangers he was 
about to encounter in an office so painful and 
perilous as that of a bishop. 

He has left us a view of the state of his mind 
and feelings in a letter which he wrote to the 
same sovereign pontiff, Paul III., with which I 
will conclude the first part of this history. 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


75 


“Beatiss. Pater. 

“ Very holy Father, 

“ It is not without fear and dismay that 
I have received the letters by which your Holi¬ 
ness constitutes me Archbishop of Valentia. For 
where is the man who, regarding with the eye of 
faith the weight of this high ministry, would not 
tremble and be cast down at the sight of so holy 
and responsible a dignity! May the very good 
and merciful Jesus Christ our Lord help me to 
serve His church, for which He descended from 
heaven, to found and cement it with the blood 
that He and His saints have shed! As it is not 
in my power worthily to express the gratitude 
which I feel for the kindness with which it has 
pleased your Holiness to honour me, I will at 
least show it in part by my conduct, acquitting 
myself faithfully of the office imposed on me. For 
I believe your Holiness is never so well pleased 
as when you see those whom you have called to 
share in your solicitudes, zealous in assisting you 
to govern that flock that God has committed to 
your care, to rule, govern, and increase it. This 
is assuredly my intention and resolution. May 
God grant that I may be able to execute it as I 
desire. As to the rest, I have nothing which is 
not yours, and which you have not acquired by 
the benignity your Holiness has shown me. I 
assure you there is no one in the world more 
ready than myself to render you submission and 
obedience in whatever it shall please you to com¬ 
mand me. I have taken the oath of fidelity 


76 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


before consecration, according to custom, and I 
have sent it you, as you commanded in your 
letter. 

“May God keep and preserve your Holiness 
many years for the good and peace of His Church. 

“ From your Holiness’s 

“ Humble and devoted creature, 

“ Father Thomas of Villanova.” 


77 


PART II. 


CHAPTER I. 

OF THE CONDUCT OF S. THOMAS WHEN IIE BECAME 
ARCHBISHOP, AND OF THE FIRST PROOFS WHICH HE 
GAVE OF CHARITY AND PRUDENCE IN HIS GOVERN¬ 
MENT. 

As soon as the holy archbishop received his 
Bulls, he endeavoured to hasten the ceremony of 
his consecration as much as possible, feeling that 
he had now no right to employ his time in any 
way but in discharging the obligations he had 
contracted towards the flock committed to his 
care. The cardinal archbishop of Toledo, with 
two other prelates, imposed hands on him in the 
church of the Augustines at Valladolid; after 
which he prepared to leave the town immediate¬ 
ly, to avoid the honours which he apprehended 
would be offered him on his departure. He 
spoke on the subject to no one until the morn¬ 
ing of his departure, when, having assembled 
his religious, he took leave of them, after 
having embraced them all, and having recom¬ 
mended himself to their prayers. He permitted 
no one to accompany him but Father Francis 
Rincon and a servant who followed him, all three 


78 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


leaving on foot quietly and without any cere¬ 
mony. His mother, who passionately desired 
to see him, had entreated him by letter to pass 
through Villanova, which is almost the direct 
road from Valladolid to Valentia. Yet when he 
arrived at the place where it was necessary to 
determine whether he would go or not, he stop¬ 
ped, and as if in doubt what he ought to do, 
consulted his companion, who showed him that 
he ought not to refuse this duty to his mother, 
nor deprive her of the happiness of his company. 
“ Let us pray to God,” said the Saint, and fall¬ 
ing on his knees, as he was accustomed to do 
before undertaking any thing, he said after a 
while to his companion, “Come, let us go straight 
to Valentia; some other opportunity will offer for 
me to see my mother. Relinquet homo patrem 
suum et matrem suam adhserebit uxori suae.” 
Then he arose and went on his way to Valentia, 
where he arrived in this poor manner. 

The respect he felt for his order induced 
him to retire to our Lady of Succour, which 
is a monastery of the Augustinians, without the 
walls of Valentia, instead of entering the city 
and going at once to the archbishop’s palace 
where he was expected. 

The superior received him at the gate, threw 
himself at his feet, and paid him all the honour 
he thought due to a great prelate and to one 
of the most holy and learned men of his order. 
The Te Deum was solemnly chanted at his en¬ 
try, but he would suffer no other ceremonies, nor 
the least extraordinary thing to be done on his 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


79 


account. He remained on his knees for some 
time before the Blessed Sacrament, and then went 
into the chapel of our Lady of Succour, to whom 
he had always had a very particular devotion. 
What very much increased the joy that all felt 
at their holy pastor’s arrival, and confirmed the 
general opinion that had been formed of his holi¬ 
ness, was a signal favour that God conferred on 
his diocese, even throughout the kingdom of 
Valentia. No rain had fallen for a long time ; 
the earth had become so dry and arid that the 
poor labourers could not cultivate it. The pro¬ 
vince seemed on the eve of a horrible famine, 
when, upon the prayers of the Saint, the heavens 
suddenly opened, and poured down an abundant 
rain, which lasted several days, abundantly wa¬ 
tered the fields, enabling the labourers to cul¬ 
tivate the earth, and rejoicing the whole country, 
which was in dread of the famine. Every one 
felt it was to the Saint they were indebted for 
the visible grace they had received; and all look¬ 
ed upon it as an earnest of the invisible and 
spiritual grace that God designed for them by 
means of his charity and doctrine. 

He passed the festivals of Christmas with much 
recollection and devotion in the company of his 
brethren, said mass every day, and assisted at the 
Divine Office and at the Refectory, as if he had 
been a simple religious. The superior had much 
trouble in making him yield so far as to take the 
first seat, and give his benediction at the end. 

He resolved to make his entry the first day 
of the year 1545, not having been able to do it 


80 ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

sooner on account of the heavy rains. The 
magistrates, accompanied by all the nobility of 
Valentia, conducted him from the monastery to 
the town-house, where the Saint adored the wood 
of the true Cross that had been brought there 
for the purpose. Following the clergy entoning 
the Te Deum, he was led in procession to the 
cathedral in the midst of a concourse of people, 
and then began his functions by the episcopal 
benediction that he gave with the usual indul¬ 
gences on such occasions. After which he re¬ 
turned to his palace, accompanied by his canons 
and persons of all ranks, who loudly praised 
God for having given them a Saint to govern 
and lead them. Whilst he, on his part, to be 
enabled to perform his duty and satisfy their 
expectations, implored from on high the assist¬ 
ance which he should require in his responsible 
situation. 

The next morning he celebrated mass with this 
intention, shedding many tears. The first proof 
that he gave of the mildness and benignity of his 
government, was seen in his leaving the altar to 
go immediately to visit the official prisons, to see 
the priests who were there, and in what manner 
they were treated. He was horrified with cer¬ 
tain dark and damp cells that he perceived, and 
having found on inquiry that ecclesiastics were 
sometimes there, and that they were made for 
that very purpose, “ If God pleases,” said he, 
“ not a single one shall ever enter there by my 
orders. These places seem to me more fitted for 
robbers and assassins than for the Lord’s anoint- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


81 


ed. We will find, God helping us, other means 
to punish and gain our brethren.” He caused 
them to be filled with earth, and the doors 
fastened up, to render them entirely useless. 

Soon after this Don Gregory Carros, Michael 
Vigue, and Don Honnori Pelizer, canons of the 
cathedral, came and offered him four thousand 
crowns on the part of their body, to testify their 
joy at his presence, and to give him the means of 
furnishing his house, as they knew it was empty, 
even of the most necessary things. He received 
the present, and thanked them for it most affec¬ 
tionately, but instead of using it, he sent it to 
the administrators of the great hospital, that it 
might be used for the poor, to repair the dam¬ 
ages the fire had a short time before done to the 
building. To prevent the canons from taking 
offence at the use he had made of their money, 
he said to them, “ Gentlemen, I entreat you to 
believe I make much account of your present, 
and that I shall never lose the remembrance of 
it. Your intention was, to give me the means 
by your liberality of furnishing my house; it 
came into my mind, and I believe it firmly, that 
our Lord will be better served and glorified by 
your money being spent on the poor in the hos¬ 
pital, who so much need it, than if it had been 
employed for my use. For what does a poor 
religious like myself want with furniture? No, 
gentlemen; do not think that though it has 
pleased God to raise me to this station, I forget 
what is due to my first condition.” 

He used great discernment and prudence in 
7 


82 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


ascertaining the dispositions of those under his 
charge, and to what they were naturally inclined, 
in order to accommodate himself to them, not in 
tolerating vice by a weak condescension, but in 
gaining their affections to lead them to good by 
the most safe and gentle ways; after the example 
of God Himself, who disposes all things in the 
world according to their nature. 

To impress those whom he wished to win to 
God, he selected the most virtuous of his people 
to compose his household. He acted on the same 
principle with regard to his clergy, choosing the 
most pious and learned to assist him in the 
administration of his charge, to show how much 
he valued virtue and merit. 

He found much to exercise his zeal and 
charity; the morals of the people in the king¬ 
dom of Valentia being dreadfully depraved, 
libertinism reigned there with impunity. In 
short, it was pitiable to see to what a state the 
affairs of his church were reduced, by the ab¬ 
sence of those who preceded him. To cure this 
inveterate evil, he would not have recourse at 
first to harsh measures, but prudently waited a 
fitting time, when he might do so without injury 
to any one. He began the visitation of the 
churches in his diocese by that of Valentia itself. 
There was neither town nor village where he did 
not preach. The zeal which he had always felt 
when preaching for the salvation of souls, was 
now increased by the consideration of what he 
owed to those under his care. In quality of 
father and pastor he spoke, as to his own chil- 


ST. THOMAS OF V1LLANOVA. 


83 


dren, for whom he was willing to shed his blood 
if necessary for their good. According to Bishop 
Ceurian’s account, the words which flowed from 
his lips in the pulpit, after he was archbishop, 
seemed to be, not the words of man, but fire 
from heaven. 

It is impossible to say how many sins both 
private and public, were forsaken and remedied 
by these visits; how many persons he comforted 
who were bowed down by the weight of their 
sorrows, and how many he saved who were on 
the brink of despair at the sight of their sins, or 
the wretchedness of their worldly affairs. How 
many heart-burnings, law-suits, and quarrels, did 
he not bring to a happy termination. In fine, 
how many souls did he not draw from the gates 
of hell into the way of salvation. lie published 
a plenary indulgence for all that was passed, as 
well for ecclesiastics as seculars, with an entire 
remission of the punishment they had deserved, 
entreating them with torrents of tears to do 
better for the future, and to begin to serve God 
according to their station; otherwise he should 
be compelled to have recourse to justice and his 
authority to punish those who had abused his 
mercy. 

When returned from his visits he assembled 
a synod at Valentia, where he wished all his 
priests to meet. It was held for three days, 
when he attended carefully to all their remon¬ 
strances and complaints, making in their pre¬ 
sence all the rules necessary for the improvement 
of their churches and themselves; ecclesiastical 


84 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


affairs being in a deplorable state. As in this 
place his authority was great, he did not fail to 
exercise it on several of his priests who were 
inclined to rebel, some even going so far as to 
protest against his orders. The rest he won by 
gentleness and the power of reasoning, and the 
statutes made in the synod were published to 
the satisfaction of all parties. His ecclesiastics 
were edified by his prudence and holiness, and 
were resolved to maintain in their parishes what 
had been decided on in the synod. 


CHAPTER II. 

ST. THOMAS WHEN ARCHBISHOP PRESERVED ' THE 
SAME POVERTY AND MODESTY AS WHEN A SIMPLE 
RELIGIOUS ; AND HIS NEW DIGNITY NEVER MADE 
HIM FORGET HIS FIRST CONDITION. 

In the generality of men it is so common a 
thing to see the manners change with the con¬ 
dition, that the experience of the ancient Ro¬ 
mans made this truth pass into a proverb, 
Magistratus virum probat; there being nothing 
more calculated to put the spirit of a man to 
the proof, than the raising him to responsible 
employments and dignities. Holy Scripture fur¬ 
nishes us with a striking example of this in the 
history of Saul. Before he was king he was called 
the friend of God, full of His Spirit, and with 
a heart pure and sincere as that of an infant. 
But he so perverted and changed that heart 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


85 


when elevated to the throne, that God drove 
him from it, in spite of all the tears and prayers 
of the prophet Samuel, which were not power¬ 
ful enough to stay the hand of Divine Justice. 
It is then a great proof and strong argument, 
that virtue has taken deep root in a man’s heart 
when he is seen to practise it as perfectly amidst 
honours and dignities as in a low estate. 

After S. Thomas became archbishop he never 
lost a particle of that modesty, humility, and 
poverty which he was accustomed to practise in 
the cloister. He was outwardly poor as well as 
poor in spirit, and truly loved that evangelical 
poverty he had professed, like all who have known 
and practised it, and who have said things of 
it which if not certain and well approved might 
seem exaggerated. For several years he wore 
the same habit as at the monastery, and did 
not change it till it was no longer wearable. 
He did the same with his under garments, caus¬ 
ing his shirts to be repieced, and when they were 
too old to be used he commanded two to be made 
into one. As long as his doublet could be worn 
by putting new sleeves to it, he would not give 
it up, but dressed himself in it, shabby as it was, 
to the very last. He mended his stockings him¬ 
self, keeping for that purpose a needle and thread 
and other useful necessaries. 

Perhaps some may think that these things 
were unworthy of an archbishop, and beneath his 
dignity, and that at any rate his historian would 
have done well to omit them; yet in the sight 
of God they may have great merit. And if we 


86 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


consider the spirit which prompted him to act 
in this manner, we shall see in them the effects 
and certain marks of his love of evangelical 
poverty, and also his wish to spare expense, that 
he might have more to bestow upon the poor 
of Jesus Christ. 

The whole eleven years that he was archbishop 
he had but two habits, one white and one black, 
both of common stuff of low price. When about 
to purchase one a friend persuaded him to let 
it be of a thinner kind of stuff, so as to be light 
and more befitting an archbishop. He consented, 
thinking it would cost less, but on finding out 
his mistake, he begged his friend to take it back 
again. “ Sir,” said he, “ you have a right to 
wear this thin cloth, you are master of your 
own property; but I, who am but a poor reli¬ 
gious, and who have nothing that does not be_ 
long to the poor, cannot use the stuff you have 
brought me without doing them an injury.” His 
friend, to satisfy him, took it for his own use, 
and bought for the holy prelate a common and 
thick serge, which he wore till it was so shabby 
his servants were ashamed of it, and blushed to 
see him so poorly clothed. So much were they 
distressed, that they agreed to petition him in a 
body to leave it off. The Saint acquiesced, and 
caused another robe equally coarse to be made; 
nevertheless, he kept the old one to mend the 
other when necessary; and was generally so 
poorly and meanly dressed, that the most humble 
religious would have found it hard to imitate 
him without blushing. 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


87 


The public profession the Saint made of po¬ 
verty displeased some of the children of the 
world; because they looked on it only with the 
eyes of the flesh. In his cathedral even there 
were some canons to whom it was unpleasant, 
and who entreated him for the honour of the 
Church he governed to be better clothed, urging 
that his dress was not conformable to his dig¬ 
nity. He answered them smiling, and in a 
manner both playful and serious, “ Gentlemen, 
I am much obliged to you for the care you take 
of my person, but really I do not see how my 
dress as a religious interferes with my dignity 
as archbishop. You well know that my authority 
and the duties of my charge are quite indepen¬ 
dent of my dress, and consist rather in taking 
care of the souls committed to me. But if, not¬ 
withstanding, you wish me to wear any other 
habit, I will cheerfully do so, provided you prove 
to me that I do nothing by that contrary to 
the profession I have made.” An answer so 
just and holy received no reply on their part, 
except that they besought him at least to wear 
a cap of a finer material than the one he then 
had. He yielded to their request, and to satisfy 
them used a cap of thinner stuff. 

He was no less economical in the expenses of 
his table than in his dress. He was as fru¬ 
gal as when a religious. He never permitted 
any thing but the most common food to be 
served, except when he ate in company, when 
another dish was added. Still he himself never 
exceeded the little he was accustomed to take 


88 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


amongst his brethren. At the end of each month 
he examined his accounts, and if his expenses 
of one week exceeded another he was disturbed, 
and warned his steward to take care, for that 
the wealth of the archbishop did not belong to 
the archbishop, but to the poor; and that be¬ 
fore God he was obliged to restore to them what¬ 
ever was expended in superfluities, and that he 
should carefully watch that our Lord was not 
displeased in this respect. He had no tapestry, 
and whatever they could do or say, he would 
never allow his room to be better carpeted than 
others. His steward having once bought a small 
carpet, and also, thinking it a great bargain, a 
piece of satin, on which was woven the descent 
from the cross; the Saint reproved him with some 
severity for the expense he had incurred, but 
at the same time said, “ This piece of satin we 
will keep in consideration of what it represents, 
especially as it will be of use in the church for 
the preacher’s chair. As for this little carpet, 
put it in the chapel where I say mass, but take 
care another time to buy nothing for the orna¬ 
ment of my house, but remember that I am a 
religious who has made a vow of poverty.” His 
couch was a field bed, with a mattress and two 
coverings; curtains but no sheets, which he 
never used except when ill, so great was his 
love of penance and holy poverty. He had no 
plate except a salt-cellar and a dozen spoons, 
which were placed on the table when he had 
company. His steward once told him, that what 
he had expended in buying earthenware plates 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


89 


and dishes which were constantly being broken 
would have sufficed to buy a service of silver. 
“Do you think I am not aware of this?” said 
he; “I have seen and well considered it, but as 
I am a religious I must remain within the 
bounds of my first condition; what would do 
honour to another would be for me a shame and 
disgrace.” 

We see, then, that honours and dignities pro¬ 
duced no change whatever in our Saint. He was 
as humble and poor under the mitre as he had 
been in the cloister. He would have no other 
arms than those of S. Augustine, a heart wound¬ 
ed and pierced, engraved upon the seal of office. 
When asked what he would have, he replied, 
“Those of my order, because there is neither 
nobility nor dignity that I value before the hon¬ 
our that God has done me in calling me by His 
mercy into holy religion.” 


CHAPTER III. 

OF THE TIME EMPLOYED BY S. THOMAS IN TRAYER, 
AND THE FAVOURS HE RECEIVED IN THAT HOLY 
EXERCISE. 

The holy archbishop knew well by the light of 
his own mind, as well as that imparted to him by 
God, the great labours and dangers which offices, 
having the care of souls, draw after them. And 
though he also knew he had done his utmost to 
prevent his election, yet the burden was so in- 



WL. TB Wa£ D? 

inVnMf ir him. 'is: be ncrer afterwards expe¬ 
rienced drhmees or jpr of heart, He could 
nerer hear himself cahed archbishop without & 
fcrftrvr of deep sue hitter rerre: that he could 
lk reslrx ids change. anu pass me rest of ids 
csTt in ids o&L It truth. seven pears after inf 
promtciic- when the emperor psas-sed frart Flan¬ 
ders into SpUTT.. and was expected si Barcelona, 
he wnce to iiiTT. bp I*r. de la Porte, entreating 
hfrr at name another at* me cimrei. of Valentia, 
Hidi ne was reedved at* cnit, frtnt me pain and 
rrlef of Lean be suffered under ft* heapp a 
welrbt inn would not da so until bis iwajriitrV 
arrrT*sL nor without iik consent. Tne emoeror 
answered. be intended shor-lp no visit Valeirtaa* 
and mep could then consult together as to trust 
woulc be meet expedient for tne ben-ice of God 
and ids own consolation: thus eluding bis request 
and lesrinj me afair undecided- Tne bolr pre- 
late said afterwards- that mere were two cause* 
td bis uneasiness, widen made bny especial] r 
anxious at bnc me means of jrrinjr op bis arch¬ 
bishopric. Tne brst was, tne account be should 
bare at- render to God of those Idoors who irred 
in ids dioeeoe. Haring received in baptism the 
name and character of Jesus Christ, he was their 
pastor, and as tnch charged with the care of their 
souk; and jet be bad no power to soften their 
bard hearts, but bad the borrow of seeing them 
aposiatibe even- dap from me 3akh, through the 
most deplorable h-indne *■- Tbit was tne reason 
a-^t that he nad so stead:.# refused the archidsin 
opric of Granada, offered hun the emperor 




sn Tara.?.? if ~t _. t oy~ ». 


3 * 


▼xter xe xeid xis uncr; in Tiledo. ami tfinc de 
vtoilL z ike ursnntr xim rqfa^ei ~i:ir x aien- 

m» x xe xad mt keen rnnneiled it xdat iQtrd- 

—* * «■ 

mm u aimirc xx rde scomi xrt~ die ~2*d <; m- 
niL’i iad to .pnac zderr*' if me -xziL-^.iaeciirs if 
I-- :mt- Fus xe junsilerel in murmcus ^zL 
iemL CXLx i T~_di mar*^ ir lined: txi ie in me 
same mne xe ssrr v-rn die ieemEs: ieinn if 
- ~:in xi Tt mre xi xn= XL' t-xt xo nmed^ 

u XI die iZtHE Xe TmiLL TBsI. He XXc^r XIJZ 
unLziTin diem ttl zlx aad leT-ermi men. tou 
tuox i n-iec xie irlers ami m indemke meir 
^a rn x:ui xe ire-aT- to aid le it inde xmiL 
ami xerdaps and; inner xe xeaee aai irntrc or die 
ipmma. Ha muumed ieemj diac xe iu mil mrc 
iirdier die rmerai. nfhm it xis- lie case. 15 at- 
ran.xx an me xuoee if Sid mice- diu^i Tde* 
viuzTit m aare keen die licas xi xmie Tied im m 
me m«d Turk. xere me irsn u me aoecieies m 
xi^ tj ;. 

r*ie mi* lynmjn die xul ^ xaeuir diund ia diis 
iiecre^ if mind. Tae- xi pajae. Frajar man 
manned xmt xi sxnoen so xeawy a zress as die 
can er xis i»ick. aad ai ezsn 11 area If m die 
inne-sc. xi lean mem xi >S;d 15 die safe^n aad 

sum^c raxs Hd> eraair^ T3i> die xadennuHe. 

^ <% 

at- Taxed* Iks Vxee^ xe raa xi learn « ‘Sid 
Txac xe dreuid iu. aad xl t xe die aid act; m die 
iiifictLXte^- Taxed xe eiwf ;xj eaeeuncered. Our 

Si*:: Ta> .1 a znac i*x 

eiu xi^ce ;fi ._mi> aw aad ohil x apeniiiice v jec xe 
seemed xi xix*i i xe arceunfi ec me^e ad’macace^ 
H i xiaeei iu.Ld entire ceuddaoee m j* d aan xi 












92 ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

prayer, that before resolving on any affair, how¬ 
ever trifling, he always consulted Him in this 
holy exercise. When spoken to on any business, 
he would say, “I will consider of it, I will say 
mass to-morrow, and will recommend this affair 
to our good Lord, that it may please Him in His 
great mercy to conduct it well,” He spent the 
greatest part of his time in prayer. His servants 
had but to go to his oratory to be sure to find 
him. Sometimes they saw him in an ecstasy, or 
shedding torrents of tears; at other times ex¬ 
tended upon the ground in the form of a cross. 
Whenever they found him thus, they retreated as 
though they had not seen him, lest his humility 
should have caused him to be distressed. Yet 
his love of prayer never made him neglect his 
duties. He left his oratory and his prayer the 
moment he was called; then having concluded 
the business, returned without loss of time. He 
had given strict orders to his servants to fetch 
him immediately he was wanted, “Because,” 
said he, “besides the weariness the people feel 
in waiting, we shall have to give an account of 
all the time we have caused our neighbour to 
lose, as well as that we waste ourselves. Never 
mind whether I am praying or studying; for 
although it may be unpleasant to be interrupted, 
still I am not my own; as a bishop I belong to 
my flock.” As our Saint placed all his cares 
and all his occupations in the hands of God, and 
undertook nothing but under His auspices, our 
Lord blessed him in every thing he did. 

He never turned away a servant that he had 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


93 


once admitted to his household, nor changed his 
officers, except to advance their interests, and 
give them better employment. And the reason 
he was so well served was, that he chose his 
servants at the foot of the altar, by the gift of 
discerning spirits that he had received from God, 
so that his choice could not be followed by repen¬ 
tance. The very first time he saw Dr. de la 
Porte, he looked at him attentively, and then 
immediately appointed him one of his visitors. 
And when the doctor, being a very humble man, 
objected that he was not worthy of this employ¬ 
ment, and entreated to be excused, the holy 
prelate replied, “You say and do just what you 
ought, but for all that it is my wish that you do 
as I tell you, because I hope that God will be 
glorified by your services; and I do not think I 
am mistaken in this idea.” In the same manner 
he chose Dr. Ceurien as his suffragan, in spite 
of all the excuses he offered; amongst others, 
that he was not fitted for such an office, and did 
not believe he had the necessary acquirements to 
discharge it well. “ Do not say that,” replied 
the Saint; “ when I entered the episcopate I was 
not more fitted for it than you, but God who 
called me, without any wish on my part, as you 
well know, has led and assisted me by His grace 
and mercy. Obey then my commands; for if 
His Divine goodness has called you, and chosen 
you to serve Him in this ministry, He will abun¬ 
dantly provide you with all the help you can 
need.” 

He had also received the gift of counsel, to 


94 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


resolve the difficulties of those who came to him 
for advice. Poor curates and others often came 
to consult him, or to complain of ill treatment. 
Now, though it often happened that they spoke 
in anger, he listened to them with the greatest 
patience; always having his heart raised to God, 
praying interiorly for him who spoke to him, that 
he might he enlightened, and prevented from 
offending his God by the unruly passions which 
agitated him. Then under the pretence of some 
business, he would go into his oratory to beg the 
assistance of our Lord, and after praying with 
many tears he would return, and give answers 
so just and conformable to the necessities of 
each, that he even astonished himself. 

In his time, the greater part of the bishops of 
Castile passed through Valentia to go to the 
Council of Trent, and lodged with him on the 
way. He entered deeply into the necessities of 
the church, and told them, that though the prin¬ 
cipal object of the Council was to extirpate the 
new-born heresy in Germany, it was no less 
necessary to aim at a reformation of life and 
morals, so corrupt in all sorts of persons. He 
expressed great sorrow that he was not able to 
accompany them, on account of the many mala¬ 
dies with which he was afflicted. But the Saint, 
though he could not assist in body, endeavoured 
to be present in spirit, by the advice and counsels 
he gave, as to what ought to be done. He gave 
his proxy to the bishop of Nuesca, and gave 
to all some writings, exhorting them all to have 
confidence in our Lord of the good success of this 
holy Council, which He had promised. 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


95 


One of these prelates returning some years 
after into Spain, said that the advice given by 
the archbishop concerning the Council, had been 
very -well received by all the fathers; and that 
they had followed his opinion in every instance 
with two exceptions. The first was, that the 
Fathers of the Council should make a rule, that 
henceforth no bishop should be allowed to ex¬ 
change his bishopric for another, in order that, 
hoping for nothing better than what he possessed, 
he might be more devoted to the care of the 
church to which God had called him. The 
second was, that all cures and benefices having 
the care of souls might be provided with priests 
natives of the place, providing they were well 
qualified, that fathers and mothers might be 
more careful to bring up their children to virtue 
and knowledge, in the hope of one day seeing 
them rectors and vicars in their own parishes. 
For though it might not be always possible, it 
would be especially advantageous in country 
churches; they would be better served, having 
a greater number of pious and learned priests. 

This admirable gift of counsel was never more 
appreciated, than when death deprived the pro¬ 
vince of the services of S. Thomas. Every one 
exclaimed that his decease was still more to be 
lamented, on account of the loss of his advice 
and counsel, than the temporal alms which he 
gave to the poor, great and extensive though 
they were. 


96 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, AND THE POWER HE HAD 
RECEIVED FROM GOD OVER DEMONS. 

Although the gift of prophecy and the power 
of driving devils from the bodies of men are not 
certain proofs of the holiness of him in whom 
they reside, since, according to scripture, there 
have been sinners and enemies of God who pos¬ 
sessed them, yet it is certain, that where these 
gifts are joined to virtue and the observance of 
the divine commands, and it is seen plainly that 
the person in whom God has placed them seeks 
nothing else than His glory and the good of his 
fellow men, it is certain that they increase won¬ 
derfully the holiness of those who make a right 
use of them. Such was the case with our Saint. 
Our Lord gave him power over devils, and often 
revealed to him future things which it was impos¬ 
sible he should know in a natural way. Of seve¬ 
ral instances I will relate some of the most re¬ 
markable. 

The holy prelate, as I have before said, mourn¬ 
ed in the depths of his heart over the torrent of 
crimes and abominations with which the world 
was deluged; and wept before God continually, 
beseeching Him by His holy grace to remedy 
all these disorders. Now as it is most natural 
that the lips should utter the fervent desires of 
the heart, he often spoke on this subject to his 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


97 


friends. One day, having celebrated mass with 
many tears and much devotion for the necessities 
of the Church, he said, on leaving tho altar, to 
Dr. de la Porte, “ Now let us praise God, and 
doubt no longer that He will soon provide for the 
wants of His Church, for I assure you that by 
His mercy Ho has revealed it to one of His ser¬ 
vants.” The next day a courier arrived at Va- 
lentia with letters from Pope Paul III. for the 
convocation of the council which the Saint ear¬ 
nestly desired as the best means of improving the 
condition of the holy Church. 

Again: in the year 1552, the priests of the 
parish of S. Catherine of Valcntia wished to get 
possession of the great chapel for their place of 
burial. The parishioners objected, saying, they 
had no right to it, and that it would be an injury 
to the public, as it was built by the alms of tho 
parish. The difference was laid before the arch¬ 
bishop, who, after weighing the arguments on 
both sides, took the part of justice, and forbid 
the priests to take possession of the chapel. 
“Choose some other place in the church,” said 
he, “for your place of burial, and leave this 
chapel; you will one day want it. Your church 
will be burnt, and you will then be glad that 
persons of fortune have had the chapel for their 
burying place, since, in gratitude for this privi¬ 
lege, they will contribute more than you could 
possibly do for the rebuilding of your church.” 
Thirty-two years after, in the year 1584, the 
prophecy of the Saint was fulfilled. The church 


8 


98 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


was burnt to ashes, but the chapel received no 
injury. 

A gentleman at the point of death was once 
recommended to the prayers of S. Thomas. He 
said mass for him, and on leaving the altar said 
to Hr. de la Porte, “Be comforted, your friend 
will not die. Go and tell him that a physician 
named Aguilar will know his complaint, and that 
by his advice and remedies he will recover his 
health.” 

One of his friends, a merchant, had communi¬ 
cated to him his intention of marrying one of his 
daughters, and recommended the affair to his 
prayers ; but without awaiting the Saint’s answer 
he married her, and returned soon afterwards 
with a joyful countenance, expressing his satis¬ 
faction at the alliance. “You are pleased at this 
marriage,” said the Saint, “ and I am sorry for it. 
You begged me to recommend this affair to God. 
I have done so; and if you had returned to me 
as you ought, I should have told you not to con¬ 
clude it. After your death this marriage will be 
the ruin of your house ; your daughter will be 
miserable, and will pass the rest of her days in 
sorrow.” It happened exactly as he had predicted. 

Another friend, who came to tell him with 
great joy that his wife had given birth to a son, 
was answered with these words: “ Pray for the 
mother and the child. He will die in a few years 
of a violent and disastrous death, which will try 
you much.” This happened also. For when the 
child advanced in years, he gave himself up to 
a dissolute life, and was killed in an encounter 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


99 


with an evil companion, his father being entirely 
ruined by a lawsuit to revenge his death. 

The power he had received from our Lord over 
devils was not less remarkable than his gift of 
prophecy: for the Divine Goodness is accustom¬ 
ed to confer these graces and favours on the 
humble of heart, as if He would recompense their 
humility by lowering the pride of the devils in 
subjecting them to the will of the saints and the 
truly humble. There was once so terrible a 
tempest in the city of Burgos, where the Saint 
was superior, that the winds, accompanied by 
thunder and whirlwinds, overthrew some houses, 
and injured a great many others. S. Thomas 
immediately went to pray before his crucifix, and 
while praying our Lord revealed to him the cause 
of this agitation in the air. He climbed the 
steeple, and throwing his eyes around he perceiv¬ 
ed a number of devils, under the form of different 
animals, who caused these whirlwinds and storms. 
Having commanded them in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ to depart, they obeyed, and 
left the air serene and tranquil. Another time, 
also at Burgos, they brought a demoniac into the 
church of the convent. The Saint did not at 
first release him; but the demon dared not, in his 
presence, torment the poor man, nor make his 
ordinary grimaces. 

One morning, having sent all his religious to 
pray in the chapel of the Holy Crucifix, he led in 
the possessed, who seemed to dart fire and flames 
from his eyes and mouth, so great was his fury. 
He was instantly delivered, the devil going out 


100 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


of this poor body with horrible howlings, with no 
further injury to it than leaving it extremely 
weak. The Saint gave thanks to God for his 
deliverance, and then turning to his religious, 
said, “ Fathers and brethren, I have convoked 
you here for two reasons. Because, in the first 
place, I know the power of united prayer; and 
in the second, I considered that if our Lord has 
done this wonder, and shown Ilis mercy on 
account of the merits of some one amongst us, 
he, whoever he may be, will be saved from the 
danger of vain-glory and presumption, to which 
he might otherwise be exposed.” 

In the general visitation that S. Thomas made 
of his diocese the first year of his archiepiscopate, 
they brought to him at Alcoy, a girl possessed by 
so outrageous a devil, that neither exorcisms nor 
the other means that the church usually employs 
on such occasions, had any effect. The holy 
prelate prayed to God for her; and after mass 
which he celebrated one Saturday with that 
intention, he ordered the vicar of the parish the 
next day at Prone, to discover before the people 
all that he had seen and heard of this demon; 
and also what the Saint had said to him in 
private about him. “And be sure,” said he, 
“that he will soon abandon this poor creature, 
because as he is an extremely proud and haughty 
spirit, and imagines we do not know his strata¬ 
gems, he will be confounded when he sees that 
we know and publish his weakness.” The next 
day all was done as ho desired, and the girl was 
cured. He also delivered by his prayers a young 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


101 


lady of Valentia, who had been possessed for a 
long time, without those about her being able to 
discover whether it was by a good or an evil 
spirit. A doctor named Ilalaya, to whom they 
brought her to confess, discovered by very evi¬ 
dent marks that it was the devil who spoke by 
her mouth ; yet he only laughed at him, and did 
not cease tormenting her even in his presence. 
At last they brought her to the archbishop. He 
made her come into the church, and after having 
prayed and said mass for her, she was perfectly 
cured. 


CHAPTER V. 

OF IIIS HUMILITY AFTER HE BECAME ARCHBISIIOr. 

The holy fathers who treat of prayer, say, that 
it is a virtue which pierces heaven; and that to 
soar on high it makes use of two other virtues as 
wings. Faith and Humility. By the light of faith, 
we discover how powerful and merciful God is, 
in relieving our necessities, and loading us with 
benefits; and by humility, we see our own misery 
and helplessness, and we hasten to throw our¬ 
selves into the arms of His goodness and clem¬ 
ency. 

The connexion between prayer and humility, 
naturally leads me to carry on the history of 
S. Thomas, by treating in this chapter of his 
humility, having spoken in a former one of his 
gift of prayer. In all the states through which 



102 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


he passed before his elevation to the episcopal 
throne, he had always preserved sentiments of 
deep and genuine humility; but after entering 
the prelacy, the depth and intensity of those 
feelings increased. He always believed himself 
unworthy of the high ministry to which our Lord 
had called him. The sweetness and affability 
with which he treated every one, testified that 
he knew how to practise the saying of the wise 
man, “Be so much the more mild and humble 
when raised to a higher dignity.” The poor and 
the rich were admitted equally to his house. 
And without making exception to any one, he 
accommodated all according to the state and 
quality of each. He had no porter as was then 
the custom; the man at his door was merely 
kept that he might be informed more quickly 
when he was wanted by any one, whether at 
study or prayer. At his house there were no 
anti-chambers and cabinets to be passed through, 
before reaching his presence. The doors were 
closed only at night; the whole of the day they 
were left open, that all those who wished it might 
have access to him at any hour. His house was 
always crowded with the poor, the old, the blind, 
and the needy, who came to tell him of their 
troubles and their miseries. Instead of avoiding 
the visits of these poor people, he received them 
with so much kindness and humanity, that to 
show his affection, and to give them more freedom 
and confidence, he seated them near himself, 
conversing amiably with them to put them at 
their ease. Never did he show the least disgust, 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


103 


however poor and ragged they might be, and he 
often remained with them for hours, comforting 
them, and exhorting them to bear with patience 
their anguish and their griefs. Sometimes it 
happened that the poor entering his hall, and 
not knowing him on account of his mean attire, 
would ask him if Dr. de la Porto was in his room, 
that they might go there to receive their alms. 
This person was his Visitor, and the principal 
distributor of his alms. “ Wait a moment, my 
friends,” he would say, “I will go directly and 
call him.” And then he would go and tell the 
doctor that the poor waited for him, and beg him 
to go quickly and attend to them with love and 
charity. His heart was so tender and full of 
goodness, that he could not see any one in afflic¬ 
tion without being sensibly touched. And even 
when at table, if he remembered having seen any 
one'cast down or sad, he would rise and not 
return till he had entirely consoled him, con¬ 
sidering so charitable an action as the most 
exquisite dish of his repast. 

There are three things which are certain ef¬ 
fects of the virtue of humility. The first is, 
the not discarding or looking down upon one’s 
poor relations when one is raised above them, 
and not blushing if they are in a mean and 
contemptible situation of life. The second is, 
to fly whatever savours of pomp and ostentation; 
and the third to grant requests with facility, and 
easily to accept excuses and reasons which are 
offered, as well on account of the esteem the 
truly humble man feels for others, as the low 


104 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


opinion he entertains of himself. These three 
effects of humility were wonderfully united in our 
holy prelate. His origin was low, as I have before 
said, and though his father was well enough off, 
it is certain that he had a number of relations 
who were poor. But he never despised them for 
their poverty. On the contrary, neither dazzled 
with the splendour of the episcopal dignity, nor 
the high estimation in which he was held 
throughout the world; he was always pleased 
to entertain them in his house, and was desirous 
they should all call him their relation. One 
day when he was on important business with the 
bishops of Tortosa and Segovia, an uncle of his 
arrived at his house, with a linen apron hung 
from his neck after the fashion of the peasants 
of Castile. He showed much joy at seeing him, 
and saluted him warmly in the presence of his 
company. “You are welcome, uncle,” said he, 
“ be seated. Their lordships will excuse my ask¬ 
ing news of my mother and relations.” He 
spoke to him with so much sweetness and affa¬ 
bility, that the spectators were not less edified 
than surprised with his holy simplicity. Then 
he called his steward to entrust him to his care, 
saying, “ Go and rest yourself, uncle, as soon as 
I have finished here you shall see me.” Then 
turning towards the bishops, he told them that 
this was his uncle, the brother of his mother. 
Another time a cousin-gennan came to Valentia, 
not so much to see and visit the archbishop, as 
to obtain from him a sum of money. He re¬ 
ceived this cousin with the same affability and 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


105 


kindly welcomo, and kept him nearly a month 
in his house, and then inquired into the state 
of his affairs. “ They are bad enough,” replied 
the man, “since of two oxen that I possessed, 
one is dead, so that I am obliged to stop my 
work.” “Ah well,” said the Saint, “I will give 
you enough to buy another, not in considera¬ 
tion of my relationship, but to assist you in the 
extremity of your affairs. I give this on condi¬ 
tion you ask nothing more of me, because what 
I have is not my own, nor have I any right to 
enrich my relations with it, but it is entrusted 
to my care to help the poor.” Similar meetings 
often took place with relations whom he loved 
and caressed. But he never forgot the rules 
which justice and charity required in the distri¬ 
bution of the ecclesiastical revenues. 

He abhorred also whatever in the least par¬ 
took of pomp and grandeur. There would be 
no end to the relation of what he has said and 
written on this subject. In his house every 
thing bore the stamp of simplicity and poverty. 
But his desire of leading an entirely apostolic 
life, was especially seen in his public appear¬ 
ances, when he would not allow a throne to be 
raised for him, nor a carpet to be spread under 
his feet in the church. The first time that he 
preached in his cathedral, he endured with diffi¬ 
culty the piece of brocade with which the pulpit 
was dressed on his account; and on leaving it he 
strictly prohibited the sacristan from ever again 
dressing it for him, but to let it remain as it 
was usually for others. And although Don 


106 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


Jerome Carros d’ Estavo, vicar general of the 
chapter, entreated that for the honour of the 
Church and his own dignity, the pulpit might 
be dressed when he preached, he could never 
obtain his request, excepting that he allowed 
him to hang on a corner of it some small piece 
of embroidery, from which he might draw in¬ 
struction for the people. At the solemn festivals 
when he celebrated pontifically, he was never 
vested sitting; nor was he pleased at seeing 
around him so many servants and ministers; but 
preferred that the sacristian should assist him 
to vest as he did the other priests. Nothing 
could be more poor and simple than his usual 
ornaments. All the enrichment of his chapel 
consisted in some old painted linen, and except 
the alb and amice which he had, he was obliged 
to borrow from the cathedral whatever was ne¬ 
cessary for the celebration of the sacrifice when 
he wished to say mass. He had recourse also 
to the cathedral for the cross and chalice. His 
mitre was of plain white damask, without any 
ornament. In his visitations he generally used 
whatever he found in the parish churches, how¬ 
ever poor and shabby they might be. How¬ 
ever, it is certain, that his not being provided 
with the ornaments that other prelates possessed, 
arose neither from avarice nor carelessness. He 
whom our Lord had endowed with so rare a 
judgment and singular virtues could be guilty 
of neither. But he deprived himself of these 
things in favour of the poor, on whom he be¬ 
stowed all that he thus saved. Joined to this 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


107 


consideration, camo in his vow of poverty and 
his extreme love of humility. Now it happened 
by a special providence of God, that what in 
others gave rise to contempt, was in his case 
a subject of edification, and a powerful motive 
for increased reverence, to those who saw his 
sweetness and affability in so elevated a posi¬ 
tion. 

The third effect of humility which I mentioned 
was beyond everything perfect and admirable in 
this Saint. He treated his priests with much 
honour and respect, appearing to forget he was 
their superior. When discoursing with them he 
would insist upon their not standing, but would 
seat them close to his side, and listen to them in 
a most amiable manner, frequently preferring 
their opinions to his own. When he reproved 
them he often begged their forgiveness, if he 
feared he had pressed them too hard with his 
remonstrances. 

Having once heard a very sad account of one of 
his canons, who was in reality a man of probity, 
but who had enemies who were so much the more 
dangerous as they appeared wise and moderate, 
he summoned him before him, and reproved him 
very severely. But no sooner had the canon 
justified himself, and clearly made out his own 
innocence and the malignity of his enemies, than 
the Saint embraced him, and said, “ May God 
comfort you, as you have comforted me by what 
you tell me! Pardon me, I entreat you; for I 
assure you that if I were at liberty to name the 
persons who have so deceived me, you would 


108 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


judge as I did, that they were worthy of credit.” 
A complaint was also made against another 
canon, who was in reality guilty. The mildness 
and benignity of the holy archbishop shone forth 
brightly in this instance. Having fully informed 
himself of the facts of the case, and seeing no 
amendment, he judged it proper, in order not to 
connive at vice, to call him into his presence. 
He showed him his fault, and the scandal it pro¬ 
duced, and entreated him to correct himself and 
amend his life, and thus spare his archbishop the 
pain of correcting him. The canon, instead of 
profiting from this remonstrance and charitable 
advice, flew into a rage, and said, that being a 
member of the Holy Office, he was not amenable 
to him, yior would he recognise him as judge, 
with many other inconsiderate words. To so 
great a height did he carry his impertinence, that 
one of the domestics wished to arrest him, but 
the mild and gentle prelate would not allow him. 
“ Let him depart,” said he, “ it is not his fault; 
it is I who have been wrong in giving the occa¬ 
sion of it by my remonstrances against what he 
has done, which were a little too rough.” How¬ 
ever, the officers of the Inquisition heard of the 
offence their coadjutor had committed, and put 
him in prison, judging that they could not let it 
pass with impunity, without injury to the love 
and respect they bore the Saint. They dispatch¬ 
ed a messenger to the archbishop, informing him 
that if he thought good they would send the 
criminal to him, to be chastised as he thought 
proper, otherwise they were resolved to punish 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


109 


him as he deserved. The holy prelate, who was 
just sitting down to table when the message 
arrived, was so sensibly affected, that he went 
immediately to the Inquisition, beseeching the 
Inquisitors to release him instantly, assuring 
them that it was he who had given cause to what 
had passed. He was so earnest with them, that 
he protested he would not leave them till they 
gave up the prisoner into his hands. At length 
he gained his end, and to show his joy, like the 
good shepherd who has found his lost sheep, he 
embraced him with tenderness, and shed many 
tears over him. Then having to return to his 
house, he wished to have his company through 
the town, that by his familiar and friendly man¬ 
ner towards him he might stifle the rumours 
which were already abroad of his imprisonment, 
on account of his having insulted the archbishop; 
and also that his honour and reputation might 
be preserved in the estimation of those who saw 
them conversing thus together. 


CHAPTER VI. 

ST. THOMAS HAD NO RESPECT OF PERSONS. OF HIS 
CONTEMPT FOR ALL CREATED THINGS. OF HIS 
EVANGELICAL LIBERTY. 

It sometimes happens that mildness and hu¬ 
mility are rather the effects of a natural weak¬ 
ness and low-mindedness, than a true virtue of 
the soul. This is easily discovered when a want 
of resolution in resisting evil is seen. True hu- 



no 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


mility, which is not a weakness of nature, but 
a holy and admirable virtue, can bear to be 
abased, and to give up its own interest to that 
of another, when the glory of God or the good 
of a fellow creature requires it; while at the 
same time it knows how to act with courage 
and firmness when it is expedient and right to 
do so. To show that what has been already said 
of the humility of S. Thomas in all his actions, 
could not be looked upon as the effect of 
natural meanness, but proceeded from true vir¬ 
tue as its principle and proper origin. It must 
be made clear how free he was from all inordi¬ 
nate affection to relations, friends, wealth, ho¬ 
nours, and all sorts of human considerations, 
that he miojht preserve himself in that high and 
holy liberty of mind of which he made such 
admirable use on every occasion in which he 
was engaged by the duties of his charge. Though 
his respect and tender affection for his mother 
were so great, he never allowed her more than 
a hundred crowns a year, until she became aged, 
when remembering that at his solicitation she 
had deprived herself of all her wealth to enrich 
the poor, he knew she must require more as¬ 
sistance in her infirmities. He gave two hun¬ 
dred crowns a year to each of his brothers, and 
forty to his uncle, because they had families 
which they were unable to support without this 
alms. The Saint once sent a domestic named 
Gabriel Trovado, to inquire after his mother. 
She charged him expressly to say to her son, 
that he should remember she was mother of an 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


Ill 


archbishop, and that the hundred crowns he paid 
her yearly was not sufficient to support so many 
poor who came to lodge in her house, which she 
still kept for that purpose. However, she could 
never obtain anything more from him. “Ihave,” 
said he, “ sent my mother what I know is neces¬ 
sary for the support of her house. If she were 
here, I might see what I could do. As it is I 
give her sufficient to live conformably to the 
customs of the country, and to her condition. 
If she wishes to give more to the poor than I send 
her, I cannot help her, since the revenues of the 
archbishopric of Valentia belong to the poor of 
Valentia, and I should act against my conscience 
in distributing them to others.” 

His brothers used often to complain also, that 
he did not take into consideration the size of 
their families in his small allowance, and begged 
him to increase it. He refused them also; and 
to induce them to labour and manage their aifairs 
with prudence, he told them at once and deci¬ 
dedly, that they had nothing more to hope for 
from him. His other relations who solicited his 
charity he treated in exactly the same manner, 
giving them just what was necessary, as he did 
others, and no more. One day he showed much 
displeasure towards a nephew who had come to 
inform him of his daughter’s marriage w T ith a 
doctor. From the inequality of rank, he could 
not approve this alliance, and spoke very strongly 
to the father on the subject. “ What! ” said 
he several times, “ the daughter of a peasant to 
a man of letters! you have done wrong.” His 


112 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


treasurer who was present, to appease him, and 
at the same time to please the father who was 
confused and astonished, said, “It seems to me 
there is not so great a disparity between the 
parties. The daughter of the nephew of an 
archbishop deserves at least some advantage. 
And then it is very easy to remedy all the rest 
by adding to her dowry whatever your Lordship 
may think proper.” “ God forbid,” said the good 
prelate, “ that I should ever commit such a fault. 
The revenues of bishops are not given them to 
enrich their relations, but to assist the poor.” 
He then commanded him to give his nephew 
fifty crowns. “ Take this, nephew,” said he, 
“ it will suffice for the expenses of your journey; 
but expert nothing more from me. What I have 
is not mine, but belongs to the poor of my 
diocese.” 

Two other relations went to spend the festi¬ 
val of Christmas with him, to offer him the good 
wishes of the season, and also hoping to obtain 
some gift from him. But they were disappointed. 
For though he received them with joy and a 
hearty welcome, yet he gave them only what was 
just necessary to defray all their travelling ex¬ 
penses. One of the two told him he was greatly 
in want of a mule for labour; he gave him the 
money, but for fear he should spend it in any 
other way, he made him buy the mule before he 
set out. He treated in the same manner one of 
his relations who came with the intention of re¬ 
maining in his service. He received him with 
affection and affability, kept him some time in 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


113 


liis house, and then dismissed him, giving him 
what was necessary to take him back to his own 
country, and nothing more. Some marks of dis¬ 
satisfaction appeared in the behaviour of this 
man. “ How! ” said the Saint to him, “ does 
it seem to you that I have given you but little ? 
Do you not know that I shall be called to ac¬ 
count by God if I dare to deprive the poor of 
what belongs to them ? Certainly I should have 
given you nothing if I had not known that you 
needed wherewith to carry you home. Go then, 
and return no more with the idea that I shall 
ever enrich you, remembering that whatever I 
possess does not belong to me, but to the poor 
of the province. ” 

As the holy archbishop was entirely free from 
all inordinate affection to his relations, so was 
he also free from consideration to rank or any 
other human distinction. Nothing ever induced 
him to lower his character by a base condescen¬ 
sion or cowardly compliance; nor was he ever 
known to flatter any one, or offer a useless com¬ 
pliment. He had received from our Blessed Lord 
an admirable freedom of spirit. His heart was 
great and generous, and filled with that apostolic 
vigour which S. Paul desired for his son Timothy. 
When at Valladolid he never paid visits to the 
emperor. He was only seen at court three or 
four times, and even then he had been brought 
there by charity for the salvation of some mis¬ 
erable beings. Though he was the emperor’s 
preacher, and was often solicited by the lords 
of his suite to visit him, and who assured him of 
9 


114 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


liis majesty’s esteem and affection, yet lie always 
declined, saying that his majesty had so much 
to occupy him, and those such weighty affairs, 
that he ought not to be approached unneces¬ 
sarily ; and that whenever he should do him the 
honour to command his services, he would always 
find him ready and willing to obey him. 

This rule of not visiting the court he kept so 
strictly, that having gone from Burgos, where 
he was prior, to Valladolid to preach the Lent 
there before the emperor, he returned without 
speaking to him or paying him any compliment, 
because no occasion of charity had drawn him 
into his presence. The emperor was so anxious 
not to lose one of his sermons while he was at 
Valladoli^, that he gave orders to be informed 
whenever he preached at the convent. One 
Sunday that he was going to preach, the emperor 
arrived a little before the time, and going into 
the cloisters, he found the sacristan there. 
“Go,” said he, “and tell the father prior that 
I am here.” The sacristan went, and the Saint 
returned this answer, “ Tell his majesty I am 
preparing to go into the pulpit. If he commands 
me to come to him I shall not be able to preach ; 
but if he wishes me to preach, he must excuse 
my coming to him.” The sacristan acquitted 
himself of his commission, not without fear of 
displeasing the emperor by an answer which 
seemed to him not very civil. However, his 
majesty received it in very good part, and in 
a manner which showed his entire satisfaction, 
he said to those around him, “ I wish all religious 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


115 


were like this good father, and that they had 
no more respect of persons than he has.” 

About this time there arose a question among 
the learned in Castile ; and the casuists were 
consulted as to whether a certain thing could 
conscientiously be introduced into the kingdom, 
which would seem to lead in the end to the in¬ 
jury of the public, and perhaps be the entire 
ruin of the people. The Saint, who was advised 
of this, felt obliged, in order to prevent the evil, 
to speak of it publicly before the emperor, find¬ 
ing that no one came forward to induce the 
council to reject it. Preaching then one day 
in his presence at Valladolid, he began in these 
words, “ May I entreat your majesty to command 
that curtain to be undrawn? because having to 
address you individually, you will do me a great 
favour if you will allow me to see your counte¬ 
nance, that I may the better say what I wish.” 
The emperor immediately ordered the curtain 
to be undrawn. “ Sacred majesty,” said the 
Saint, “ I have been requested to tell you my 
judgment on a certain affair treated of in your 
council. I have but one word to say to your 
majesty, which is, most humbly to beseech you 
to consider with your usual zeal and prudence 
what are the characters of the persons who make 
this proposition, and who dare to charge them¬ 
selves with an affair which is viewed with horror 
by all the wise, and all those who have any 
religious feelings.” After a few more words 
uttered with great power, he concluded thus, 
“ I have nothing more to say upon this subject. 


116 ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

If your majesty pleases, you can command the 
curtain to be drawn.” This liberty of speech 
astonished the audience, but it edified the em¬ 
peror marvellously; who instead of being of¬ 
fended, approved it, and the high opinion he 
had formed of the preacher’s sanctity was in¬ 
creased by it. From this we may judge what 
S. Thomas would do in reproving ordinary per¬ 
sons when archbishop, since he could speak in 
this manner to so great a monarch, while only 
a simple religious. 

He received with civility the numerous letters 
written to him by princes and lords, and an¬ 
swered them with the same civility. But when 
asked to do any thing which was not just and 
right, he added without ceremony that he should 
be most happy to serve them, but it was impos¬ 
sible to comply with their request, without break¬ 
ing the laws of God, which it was not permitted 
him to do. 

I could relate numberless instances of his 
strength of mind and generosity, if I did not fear 
being wearisome, for which reason I will cut this 
subject short by relating a circumstance which 
occurred between him and the emperor on an 
occasion no less remarkable than the preceding. 
News having reached Spain that the Turks were 
going to attack the island of Ivizza, the islanders 
sent deputies to the emperor entreating him to 
build them a citadel. This demand was granted, 
but not so quickly executed for want of finances. 
As the emperor had no resources in Spain, he 
was advised to apply to the archbishop of Ya- 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


117 


lentia, for the loan of twenty thousand crowns. 
The Saint replied to the deputies of the island, 
and the imperial commissaries, that he humbly 
begged his majesty to excuse him; that lie had 
nothing belonging to himself, nor could he lend 
him any thing, the revenues of the archbishop 
being the property of the poor, and not his own. 
After some discussion the officers begged him to 
consider the great need they had of this money, 
which was destined to be applied to the common 
good of Christianity, and again asked him on 
what conditions he would oblige them. “ I quite 
understand the necessity of the case,” said the 
good prelate, “ but yet I cannot do it; because 
God has not placed the island of Ivizza under 
my care, as he has the diocese of Yalentia. It 
is not just to use for the fortifications of Ivizza 
money which is intended for the relief of the 
poor, whose prayers to God constitute the prin¬ 
cipal strength of states and empires.” In short, 
he refused their demand, knowing it would be 
acting contrary to the will of God and the duties 
of his charge. They then began to tell him how 
much displeased the emperor would be at his 
refusal and his resolute answers. “I should 
grieve,” said he, “to give his majesty reason 
to be offended with me, but it would be much 
worse for me to offend God. But if unhappily 
his majesty is offended, here is the key of my 
cell, which I carry still at my girdle. And I 
assure you that I should very much prefer re¬ 
turning there to live and die than to continue 
in a palace. And touching what you say as to 


118 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


the compassion I ought to feel towards this poor 
country, God knows I would contribute to its 
preservation against the infidels, at the price of 
my blood. But let us see what can be done. 
His majesty demands twenty thousand crowns. 
I cannot give them without injury to the poor; 
but let the sum be divided, and I will lend 
his majesty ten thousand on condition he as¬ 
signs me that sum by a secure bond to be re¬ 
turned at a certain time, otherwise I can do 
nothing without loading my conscience with a 
thing for which I shall be accountable one day 
to God.” The agreement was made in this 
manner. He lent the ten thousand crowns, of 
which he received six thousand during hii? life, 
and the other four were paid afterwards, and 
employed in works of charity according to the 
orders he left at his death, as will be seen in 
its proper place. See how our Saint could unite 
gentleness and humility with firmness of mind, 
when he thought it necessary. 


CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE CARE IIE TOOK OF HIS HOUSEHOLD, AND THE 
CHARITY WITH WHICH HE TREATED ALL THOSE 
UNDER HIS JURISDICTION. 

Having undertaken in this chapter to show 
with what prudence and charity this good pastor 
governed the flock entrusted to him, it is fitting 
to begin by examining his way of conducting his 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


119 


own house, since, as the apostle sajs, “ If a man 
know not how to rule his own house, how shall 
he take care of the church of God ? ” 

The method which S. Thomas adopted in his 
household was perfectly pious and Christian. One 
of his rules was, never to receive any one into his 
service without speaking with him himself, and 
being careful to obtain informaton of his life and 
morals, at the same time making him thoroughly 
understand what he required from him, and what 
would be his employment. He afterwards pre¬ 
scribed certain rules, of which the four following 
were the most important: In the first place he 
was expected to live in peace with every one; 
and for this object he forbade any of his servants 
to meddle with the affairs of others, but to con¬ 
fine his attention strictly to what concerned 
himself; and, secondly, he enjoined them to be 
modest and very retired. He never allowed those 
in his employ, whoever they were, to go out with¬ 
out his express permission, treating them in this 
respect as if they had been in a monastery. All 
the doors of his house were closed before night, 
so that no one could possibly go out even if he 
had had the inclination. His third rule was, that 
they were never to repeat anything of others, 
either to him or any one else. Lastly and prin¬ 
cipally, he enjoined them to be devout, never to 
fail at prayers, to frequent the Sacraments, to 
confess and communicate at the solemn festivals, 
and every first Sunday in the month, and to re¬ 
cite daily the little office of the Virgin; or, if 
they could not read, the Rosary. If he discover- 


120 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


ed that any of them had failed in his duty, he 
called him to him and corrected him as a father, 
regarding them all as his children. He particu¬ 
larly showed his paternal affection and charity 
when they were sick, causing them to be attended 
with more care than in a similar case he would 
have allowed them to bestow on himself. 

But as he knew the soul to be much more 
noble than the body, so did he bestow much 
more care upon the health of their souls than 
their bodies. From time to time he assembled 
them all together, and though he had two almo¬ 
ners capable of instructing them, yet he taught 
them himself, and gave them spiritual lessons in 
form of conferences; encouraging some and re¬ 
proving others, and all with words so gentle and 
yet powerful, that they were led to their duty 
rather by love than fear. In addition to their 
wages he occasionally gratified them by some¬ 
thing extraordinary. A servant of his, called 
Philip Jovier, having once received from him fifty 
crowns more than his due, wished to express his 
gratitude to his good master. “ Take that, my 
son,” said the kind prelate, “it is not in my 
power to give you more at present, for I am in 
debt to my treasurer, but continue to conduct 
yourself well, and I will endeavour for the future 
to be more liberal towards you.” In his house 
experience justified the truth of the proverb, that 
the good master makes the good servant. For 
the holy archbishop had so formed his domestics 
after his own example, that there was amongst 
them no other ambition than that of attaining 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


121 


to virtue. Complaints, murmurings, tale-bearings 
or detractions, were never heard in his house. 

As detraction was a sin which the Saint held 
in especial horror, if he found himself in com¬ 
pany with persons who spoke disadvantageous^ 
of others, he always defended the cause of the 
absent, and endeavoured to do away with the 
unfavourable impression raised against them. 
“You do not look at this in a right point of 
view,” he would say, “you are wrong, because 
he may have had a good intention; as for myself, 
I believe that he had.” He was once asked by 
some poor miserable creature, to go and obtain 
of the emperor a favour. As soon as he entered 
the ante-chamber, all the lords who were in 
waiting, rose to do him honour, though he was 
at that time but a simple religious. Having 
prevailed on him to be seated, one of them began 
to speak of an absent person. The Saint, who 
soon perceived to what his discourse tended, 
interrupted him, and said, rising at the same 
time, “ Sir, I humbly entreat you either to 
change this subject or permit me to retire, 
because if you continue any longer, I see clearly 
that God will be displeased.” Being at this 
moment summoned to the emperor, he was no 
sooner gone, than the constable of Castile, who 
was there, said to the others, “ Truly, gentlemen, 
Father Thomas is a religious everywhere, as 
much at court as in the cloister; no respect of 
men will prevent him from being so, wherever 
he is.” 

We will now speak of the love and charity he 


122 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


felt universally for all who depended on him, and 
who lived under his jurisdiction in his diocese. 
The good archbishop entered so completely into 
their afflictions, and so tenderly compassionated 
them under their sorrows, that he passed the 
greater part of the night in his oratory, at the 
foot of the crucifix, beseeching our blessed Lord 
to grant the petitions which had been recommend¬ 
ed to him the preceding day. And like another 
Jacob, he never quitted the holy struggle with 
God till he had received the blessing and the 
relief he had implored for his poor brethren. It 
is commonly said, that the mouth speaks from 
the abundance of the heart; this axiom is true 
principally in persons who are humble, sincere, 
and without guile, such as was this great servant 
of God. At table, in the evenings, and in fact 
whenever he was with his friends, he scarcely 
discoursed on any other subject than the means 
which could be found to remedy the wants of his 
people. “ I beg of you as a favour,” said he one 
day to Dr. de la Porte, “to comfort this poor man 
a littleand at another time, “ Let me recom¬ 
mend to you the wants and distresses of that 
poor widow.” Such words as these were con¬ 
stantly on his lips, suggested by his fatherly care. 
He never showed the least sign of impatience, nor 
felt himself importuned by the number and assi¬ 
duity of the poor people who had recourse to 
him incessantly. There was no time nor hour in 
which they were not at liberty to go to him. His 
charity towards his neighbour was so great, that 
he could conceive no evil to be without a remedy, 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


123 


nor any infirmity to be incurable. All his people 
had orders never to send any one away, to be 
affable to every one, and to call him to the first 
who inquired for him, telling them it was all his 
pleasure and consolation in this world to see his 
poor sheep run thus to their shepherd. 

When the hospital, which had been destroyed 
by fire, was rebuilding, the good archbishop went 
almost every day to hasten the work; and solicit¬ 
ed the men to labour hard, with so much zeal 
and earnestness, that one would have thought all 
the sick and poor had been his own brethren. On 
his first arrival in Valentia, he took the bread as 
it were from his own mouth to feed them, giving 
them the four thousand crowns with which he 
had been provided for his own necessities; and 
immediately he received his revenues as arch¬ 
bishop, he sent a part to the hospital to advance 
the building; besides which he did not cease to 
recommend it to the charity of his auditors in all 
his sermons. He felt for all and each who gave 
alms to the hospital the same gratitude and obli¬ 
gation as he would have done if they had relieved 
his own necessities. Like the high-priest Aaron, 
who carried the names of the children of Israel 
written upon his shoulders and breast, this holy 
prelate carried his people in his heart and bore 
them on his shoulders, by supporting their infir¬ 
mities and imperfections, and charitably provi¬ 
ding for their miseries. His compassion for those 
who had fallen into sin was unbounded, as well 
as his zeal and gentleness in recovering them 
from it. He hated sin, but loved those to whose 


124 ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

amendment he was instrumental. The souls that 
he drew from the gates of hell to those of heaven 
were so numerous, and there were so many per¬ 
sons who renounced their sinful courses and dedi¬ 
cated themselves entirely to the service of God, 
that he who would undertake to give an account 
of them might fill volumes with this one subject 
alone. He spared neither labour, nor tears, nor 
blood, nor money, when necessary to save a soul; 
and sometimes he even yielded his rights, and 
declined exercising his authority, when expedient 
to do so for the same object. I will relate some 
examples of this. In one of the parish churches 
of Valentia, the choir having finished chanting 
the office one Good Friday, a certain priest who 
was standing at the altar where the Blessed Sa¬ 
crament had been brought from the sepulchre, for 
what reason the history does not relate, fell into 
a passion, and called out and blasphemed in a 
horrible manner, to the great scandal of all who 
were assisting. The holy archbishop, who was 
informed of this outrage, called him into his 
presence, and reproved him with all the rigour 
that his offence deserved, intending to punish 
him severely. But no sooner did he witness his 
repentance, his deep sorrow and tears, than he 
said to him, “You know well that your blas¬ 
phemy, joined to the scandal you have given, 
demand an exemplary punishment, and in truth, 
I was resolved, in accordance with my duty, to 
chastise you as you deserve; nevertheless I par¬ 
don you, since you see and acknowledge your 
fault, and in imitation of our merciful Lord, who 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


125 


receives the sinner when ho weeps and detests his 
crime, I will treat you with mildness. During 
three days you will fast and give alms to the 
poor of your parish, that they may pray to God 
for you; and as your fault has been public and 
scandalous, go into the church and be seen in the 
choir, but abstain from saying mass for fifteen 
days, that those who have witnessed the sin may 
also see that it is only as a penitent you dare to 
approach our Lord, after having so grossly offend¬ 
ed Him at His holy altar.” 

Another time he was touched to the quick by 
an account that a layman brought him of an 
ecclesiastic, whom he accused of improper inter¬ 
course with a woman, and even of being the 
father of three children. Nevertheless, wishing 
to preserve his honour, the good archbishop 
defended him in such a way, that the accuser 
said to him, “ Certainly, my lord, your goodness 
must be very great, since you defend even the 
wicked against justice.” Without being piqued 
by this reproach, after having made inquiries to 
ascertain the truth of the affair, he dismissed his 
visitor, and sent for the priest into his oratory, 
and there gave him so severe a reproof, that in 
spite of his attachment to the woman, and the 
pledge of their sacrilegious love, he protested 
that for the future all intercourse with her 
should cease. The Saint, who was over-joyed 
at seeing him so well disposed, confirmed him 
in his good resolutions, and to deprive him of the 
means of returning to his sinful course, he pro¬ 
vided a husband for the woman, and took charge 


12G 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


of the children; and when they were grown up 
he provided for the two boys, and gave the girl 
so good a dowry, that she married respectably, 
as well as the mother. 

Having learnt also that two other priests led 
bad lives he summoned them separately into his 
oratory, after having for a long time supplicated 
the Almighty to touch their hearts, and there 
reproved them with so much zeal and effect, that 
they at once resolved to renounce their bad 
practices. For this purpose they for some time 
left the town to bewail their sins in solitude, and 
to prepare themselves to make an entire confes¬ 
sion of their past lives; and both of them ever 
afterwards led strictly penitential lives. And 
when the good prelate learned that poverty had 
been the occasion of their fall, he assigned to 
each of them an annual pension, and at the same 
time gave their two accomplices a dowry, which 
placed them in a situation to marry honestly, 
and to serve God henceforth in the observance 
of the laws of holy matrimony. 

Another priest was brought to him by the 
archers, who had taken him in the night, armed 
and dressed in an extravagant manner quite 
unbecoming his profession. They expected the 
Saint would immediately order him to prison, 
instead of which he desired them to leave him 
in his house, saying, “ Be satisfied that I will pay 
what is due to you for your capture, the rest is 
my concern; it belongs to me to settle matters 
with this person.” He then caused a bed to be 
prepared in his chamber, as soon as the archers 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


127 


were gone, and made him lie down, whilst he 
retired into his oratory to lay open his heart 
before God, and represent to Him this piteous 
spectacle; with burning tears conjuring His Divine 
Goodness not to permit the Blood which He had 
shed for this poor unhappy being, to have been 
shed in vain. After a long and fervent prayer 
he returned to the priest, and began to reprove 
and exhort him in words so powerful and full of 
the Spirit of God, that this man, who seemed to 
have lost all fear and compunction for his fault, 
seeing the excessive charity of his holy prelate, 
returned to his senses, made a firm resolution to 
change his life, and to employ what remained of 
it in the service of God, by a holy and perfect 
penitence. At break of day the Saint took leave 
of him with these words, “ Return to your house, 
my brother, return at once, and never forget the 
great mercy God has shown you this day. This 
is all the punishment I award you.” The heart 
of the priest was truly changed, so that he made 
a full reparation by the holiness of his life for all 
the evil he had caused by his bad example. To 
avoid a wearisome repetition I will now dismiss 
this subject, only saying that the number, both 
of ecclesiastics and laymen, that he brought by 
such means as these from vice to virtue, from 
hell to heaven, is almost beyond belief. 


128 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

SEQUEL OF THE PRECEDING CHAPTER, IN WHICH IS 
SHOWN THE NUMBER OF CONVERSIONS HE OBTAINED 
BY THE SEVERE DISCIPLINES HE USED. 

As it is usual for most men to form their 
judgment of things, not as they are in reality, 
but according to their individual bias and dis¬ 
position, I will here relate some instances to 
prove, that what has been already said of the 
piety of S. Thomas of Yillanova, did not proceed 
from pusillanimity or deficiency of zeal for the 
glory of God and the maintenance of the archi- 
episcopal rights. 

A canon of his cathedral having been arrested 
by the governor of Valentia, John de Villeraze, 
for having seriously hurt one of his officers, the 
chapter, who were greatly concerned at this, ex¬ 
erted themselves to the utmost to obtain his re¬ 
lease. But finding their efforts useless, they 
had recourse to the archbishop, imploring him 
to spare them this ignominy, and to exert his 
authority in behalf of their brother. He replied, 
that he was deeply grieved at this accident, 
and wished it were in his power to act, and to 
spare their companion such a disgrace, but that 
his hands were tied by the concordat they had 
made on his arrival; so that it was useless for 
them to call upon him to protect a person who 
was exempted, by their privileges, from his juris¬ 
diction. 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


129 


This answer afflicted them to the last degree, 
and fearing that whilst they were losing time 
in soliciting one and another for the criminal, 
justice might proceed to his condemnation by a 
definitive sentence, they offered to submit them¬ 
selves to the archbishop’s jurisdiction during his 
life, and passed a public act to that effect. In 
consequence of which the Saint sent immedi¬ 
ately to inform the prisoner, and began to pro¬ 
ceed by the way of ecclesiastical censures against 
the governor, and continued with the greater 
firmness on account of a black and most unwor¬ 
thy action committed soon after by the same 
man against a subdeacon. This young eccle¬ 
siastic having unfortunately killed a man in the 
bull-fights, which were the usual diversions in 
Spain at the time of the Carnival, he dragged 
him to prison, and there, without any judicial 
process, caused him to be strangled and his body 
cast into the town with the cord still around 
his neck, every one trembling with horror and 
dismay at the sight of so barbarous a spectacle. 

The generous archbishop finding that after 
two or three remonstrances, the governor still 
refused to give up his canon, cut him off with 
all his adherents from the communion of the 
faithful, by the greater excommunication, and 
at the same time caused an interdict to be pub¬ 
lished throughout the city, where the churches 
were closed and the divine offices ceased, accord¬ 
ing to the usual practice on such occasions in 
Spain, and sometimes in cases of less impor¬ 
tance. The interdiction lasted several months, 
10 


130 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 


notwithstanding all the viceroy’s efforts to oblige 
the archbishop to raise it. To his entreaties he 
joined threats of seizing the temporals of his 
church, and employed all his power against him, 
that what he would not grant by fair means 
he might be compelled to do by force. The 
Saint, firm as a rock, sent this answer to the 
viceroy’s menaces : “ To be faithful to your king, 
your excellence is obliged to maintain his au¬ 
thority by every just and reasonable means 
against those who would weaken it. In like 
manner, seeing the wrong done to the Church, 
it is my duty to defend it with the arms that 
God has placed in my hands, unless I would wish 
to pass for, and to be, a cowardly and mercenary 
pastor. And as to the revenues of the archbish¬ 
opric that you threaten to seize, I shall not be 
the loser by your performing your threat, but 
the poor, to whom they belong. And I ask for 
nothing better, than to be discharged from the 
burden of the prelacy, to return to the life of 
a simple religious in his cell. And finally, I 
should esteem myself happy, not only to lose my 
property but my life, in protecting the Church 
that God has given me.” At length the viceroy, 
judging by these concluding words, animated by 
an ardent and apostolic zeal, that the holy pre¬ 
late would relax nothing of his resolution, and 
considering also that he was in the right, sent 
orders to the governor that he was to submit to 
his pastor. The canon was released on the Satur¬ 
day before Palm Sunday ; the governor acknow¬ 
ledged his fault, and humbly received and per- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


131 


formed his penance. The third day after Easter, 
the archbishop from the pulpit explained to the 
people what had passed, protesting that it was 
not without much grief on his part, that the in¬ 
terdict had lasted so long ; but that he could 
not raise it whilst the honour of the Church 
was concerned. With respect to their governor, 
who had been the cause of this disorder, he told 
them he was not the less Christian or Catholic 
for having thus resisted the ecclesiastical cen¬ 
sures, seeing he had thought he could do so 
lawfully; added to which, he had obeyed the 
viceroy, and humbly submitted himself to the 
Church. 

But the holy archbishop never employed these 
violent remedies except in extreme cases. He 
loved rather to shed his tears and his blood before 
God for the salvation of the souls committed to 
him, and to punish himself for the sins of his 
flock by severe disciplines, than by exerting his 
authority to force them to their duty by means 
which would cost him less, if he had chosen to 
avail himself of the power of his office. His 
charity had ample room to exercise itself, for 
libertinism and dissoluteness of manners had in 
his time arrived almost at their utmost height 
in the greater number of those who were con¬ 
secrated to God. Having been informed that 
a certain ecclesiastic, whom he had several 
times reproved for his bad conduct, still con¬ 
tinued to scandalize the world by his immoral¬ 
ities, he sent for him to his house; and taking 
him privately into his oratory, he laid before 


132 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


him, in a forcible manner, the miserable state in 
which he lived, and the pernicious example his 
depraved morals gave to every one; showing 
him at the same time the punishment which his 
crimes deserved. “ However,” said he, “ as it is 
perhaps my clemency which has fomented your 
debauchery, and as it seems to me you have con¬ 
tinued your disorderly life only because I have 
delayed to punish you, I resolve to bear the 
penalty myself.” So saying, he prostrated him¬ 
self before a crucifix, and began severely to dis¬ 
cipline his body, which he had half uncovered, 
and continued this rigour until the guilty man 
could no longer suffer the remorse of his con¬ 
science, and terrified at seeing this proof of the 
excessive charity of his good prelate, threw him¬ 
self at his feet, saying, “ My Lord, cease, in the 
name of God. Give me that discipline, I beseech 
you, that I may expiate my sins by my own blood, 
not by the effusion of yours. Why should the 
innocent suffer for the guilty? No, I promise 
you, in the presence of this adorable crucifix, so 
entirely to change my life and manners, that for 
the future you shall be perfectly satisfied with 
me. And for what is past I ask no favour from 
your goodness. Treat me according to the most 
rigorous justice. Impose on me what penance 
you shall think proper, for there is nothing that 
I will not do, by the grace of God, to satisfy 
Him for my offences.” The Saint embraced him 
tenderly, and praised God in his heart for the 
impression he had just made upon this poor 
miserable man. To fortify him in his pious reso- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


133 


lution, he made him an exhortation so affection¬ 
ate and so full of the Spirit of God, that he went 
from his presence, his eyes bathed in tears, and 
for six months remained struck with astonish¬ 
ment, and unable to recover the natural expres¬ 
sion of his countenance. The rest of his days 
were passed in the service of God and His church 
in a most exemplary holiness of life. 

The Saint met with many other similar occa¬ 
sions, where, in order to succeed and obtain the 
object of his desire, the conversion of souls, he 
spared nothing. He never esteemed his money 
better or more usefully employed than when 
given as alms to poor ecclesiastics, to support 
them respectably according to their condition. 
At one time, having met with one whose guilt 
was caused by his poverty, he inflicted upon him¬ 
self as severe a penance as if the fault had been 
his own. After several useless remonstrances he 
caused him to be arrested; but scarcely had he 
been eight days in prison, when, regarding him 
with the eye of charity, which suffers more in 
punishing than he does who receives the punish¬ 
ment, he released him, and summoning him into 
his oratory, said to him, “ Come here, my friend. 
Many a time have I entreated you to renounce 
your bad habits; tell me what are the ties 
which bind you so obstinately to sin. Open your 
heart to me, I conjure you in the name of God. 
Imagine that you are not before your archbishop, 
but that you are speaking to your dearest friend, 
for in truth I assure you, that after God, there is 
nobody in the world who loves you better, or who 


134 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


more ardently desires the salvation of your soul, 
than myself.” The poor priest, touched by these 
expressions of burning love and charity, humbly 
confessed his crime, the time of committing it, 
and the cause which kept him engaged in it, 
which was poverty. At the word poverty the 
good prelate groaned as if his heart was being 
torn from his body. “Is it possible,” said he, 
turning to the crucifix, “ 0 King of Glory, that 
from being poor it can be said that one of my 
sheep has offended you? It is, then, my fault, 
not his. For this reason, my Lord and my God, 
I conjure you, by the blood that you have shed 
upon the cross for him, that you will show him 
mercy. Open his eyes, make him see his de¬ 
plorable state, that he may renounce it and 
detest it, and that he may return to Thee. As 
to myself, I will take the punishment which is 
due for his sins, since it is I who am the cause 
of them.” Then addressing the unhappy man, 
he said, “ Return to your house, receive nothing 
whatever from the person you know of; I will 
provide for you. Recite your office devoutly, re¬ 
commend yourself fervently to our blessed Lord, 
and return here to-morrow. But as this satisfac¬ 
tion is nothing to the punishment you deserve, 
take great care that you do not fail in a single 
point of what I have commanded.” S. Thomas 
passed the night groaning and praying in his 
oratory for the conversion of this sinner, mingling 
his tears with the blood that he drew from his 
body by a very severe discipline. The next day 
the priest arrived at the appointed hour. Saint 


ST. THOMAS OF V1LLANOVA. 


135 


Thomas again took him in private, and discoursed 
to him with the same fervour and zeal as the 
preceding day; and although he was the sworn 
enemy of ostentation, and never spoke willingly 
of his private exercises and devotions, yet he 
judged it expedient to do so on this occasion, in 
order to touch the feelings of this poor man, and 
make him enter into himself. He discovered to 
him then a part of his chest and shoulders wound¬ 
ed and bloody. “ See, my brother,” said he, “see 
the marks of the penance I have done for your 
sins. Be assured that if you are so unhappy as 
to return to them, despising the mercy I have 
shown you, that Glod who is just will deprive you 
of His, and will cut you off as a dry and useless 
tree to serve as fuel for the eternal fires.” These 
words filled the soul of the guilty man with so 
much terror and confusion, that, humbled to the 
dust, he approached to kiss those wounds, pro¬ 
mising an amendment of life so solid and so 
exemplary that he should for the future have 
only reason to commend. “Ah well,” said the 
Saint, “remain firm in these resolutions, examine 
your past life, and make a good general confes¬ 
sion. As to your future maintenance, give your¬ 
self no concern about it, I will allow you three 
crowns a month, and what is necessary for your 
daily support. See if it is enough.” For several 
years this alms was continued to the poor eccle¬ 
siastic, until, finding himself able to live respect¬ 
ably according to his state of life, he declined 
receiving it any longer, feeling it was doing an 
injury to the poor, as it was depriving them of 
what was their property. 


136 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE CARE WHICH HE TOOK OF THE HONOUR OF 
HIS CLERGY, AND OF HIS CHARITY TOWARDS THE 
POOR. 

As it is the property of true charity to distin¬ 
guish between sin and the sinner, in such a 
manner as to hate the one and love the other, 
so also superiors who possess that divine virtue 
are accustomed to correct those under their con¬ 
trol in such a way, as while punishing their 
faults to preserve -their honour and reputation. 

This doctrine was common and familiar to our 
Saint in the pulpit, as may be seen in his Book of 
Sermons. But what he so well taught to others 
he practised still better himself. He endeavoured 
to hide as much as possible the faults of his 
clergy, and to prevent any other than himself 
from discovering them. He kept a book in his 
cabinet in which he registered the names of his 
ecclesiastics and the crimes of which they were 
accused. When informations were brought, he 
copied them into this book, and then threw the 
originals into the fire. In drawing up the depo¬ 
sitions against them, he never employed any 
officers but his own visitors, to whom he especially 
recommended secrecy, so jealous was he of the 
reputation of the clergy. He gave them in private 
the correction they deserved, and when he saw 
the amendment he so much desired, he effaced 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


137 


what he had written in his book, or tore out the 
leaf to obliterate all remembrance of it, and to 
prevent its being handed down to posterity. The 
extreme care that he took of their good name 
made him watch their conduct most carefully; 
though ho did not place much reliance on the 
accounts brought him by laymen, his charity 
leading him to suppose that some of their com¬ 
plaints might proceed from interest or passion. 

On one occasion the parishioners of Liria 
brought a charge against their curate. He 
listened to them patiently and heard out the 
accusation, and did not fail to inform the accused 
of what was said of him, warning him to take 
care of his conduct. In speaking of the affair to 
Dr. de la Porte, he told him he had great diffi¬ 
culty in believing the story, “Although,” said he, 
“these people assure me that the fault of their 
pastor is notorious, and well known throughout 
the parish. Go you and visit this place; I will 
furnish you with authority to draw up the infor¬ 
mations; yet recommend the affair to our Lord, 
and beg of Him light to discover the true state of 
the case.” The visit was made, and it was found 
that the good prelate was correct in his idea, 
and that their accusations were false and calum¬ 
nious, with only a very trifling foundation even 
in appearance. 

At another time he gave a very severe repri¬ 
mand to one who brought a similar accusation. 
It was a charge against one of his brethren, made 
by a man, devout, retired from the world, and of 
irreproachable life. The Saint at first permitted 


138 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


him to speak, but the heat of his manner and his 
indiscreet zeal called for an interruption, “ Gently, 
gently,” said he, '‘dismiss all anger, and look 
a little into yourself. Remember that he of whom 
you are speaking is your brother, and as he is in 
the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, 
notwithstanding his present weaknesses. You may 
fall into the same fault, or you may perhaps fall 
into a worse one. But supposing that you remain 
upright, tell me to whom are you indebted for it, 
if not to the pure mercy of God ? Was it neces¬ 
sary for you to come here to discharge your 
spleen at the expense of your neighbour ? Ought 
you not rather, according to the precept of the 
gospel, to have warned him of his defects in pri¬ 
vate, before making them known ? ” After this 
charitable advice, with which he dismissed the 
accuser, he sent for the accused and talked to 
him in such a way, that of these two ecclesiastics 
whom he found faulty, each in a different man¬ 
ner, he made the one more holy, and the other 
more wise and cautious. 

When he wanted to send for any one to give 
him advice or correction, he ordered the messen¬ 
ger to walk two or three hundred steps before or 
behind the party summoned, for fear that sus¬ 
picions to his prejudice might be excited if he 
were seen going to the archbishop so attended. 

So great was his compassion towards those 
whom he was compelled to place under restraint, 
that no sooner were they in prison, than it was 
the first desire of his heart to release them. All 
that he required was, that some one should peti- 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


139 


tion for them, and that there should be some 
slight sign of amendment. 

Having once confined one of his clergy whom 
he had often reprimanded without effect, he 
was much grieved to find that after some time 
had passed no one appeared to speak in his favour. 
His charity induced him to seek for intercessors 
to plead in his behalf. “It seems,” said he to 
to Dr. de la Porte, “ that this poor priest has no 
other friend than myself. Find some one I en¬ 
treat you to speak to me in his favour. Perhaps 
he will correct himself after my remonstrances 
and all that he has suffered.” It was done as 
lie requested. The priest was brought into his 
presence, and his pardon begged of the arch¬ 
bishop, who granted it after a little delay, upon 
the promise that he made of amendment of life 
for the future. 

This was his ordinary practice on such occa¬ 
sions, and where necessity required it he often 
added his liberality to their deliverance. He 
was once so touched with compassion at the sight 
of one who was miserably clothed, that he sent 
him a cassock and cloak by a secret messenger. 
He took especial care that his prisoners, whether 
clerks or laics, should be liberally supplied with 
whatever was necessary for their support. And 
as his object was to gain their souls, not 
their money, he would never hear, under any 
pretext, however specious, of a pecuniary com¬ 
position for their deliverance. In one single in¬ 
stance he changed the punishment of imprison¬ 
ment for that of a fine of ten crowns, to be paid 


140 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


to the great hospital, in the case of a priest 
who was very rich and avaricious, because he 
knew it would be touching him in the tenderest 
point and the most likely to teach him wisdom. 
But this example was the only one of its kind. 
To the remonstrances of those who urged that 
this commutation of one punishment for another 
was very usual in other dioceses, he answered, 
“ I know it well, nor do I wish to condemn the 
usage; but we judges and ecclesiastical supe¬ 
riors ought to make our inferiors understand and 
feel that their salvation is the object of our de¬ 
sire, not their purses.” 

The gaoler once complained to him, that in¬ 
stead of gaining any thing in his service, he 
incurred some expense in the exercise of his 
duty, from the number and poverty of his pri¬ 
soners. Upon his simple word the good prelate 
paid him whatever he said he had expended 
from his own resources, and promised that hence¬ 
forward he would always do the same. The com¬ 
passion he felt for these unhappy men, induced 
him often to bestow very large sums on the 
officers of justice over and above their wages, 
as well to make them kind and gentle towards 
the criminals, as to prevent them exacting any 
money from them. Kis domestics were treated 
in the same liberal way. He regularly gave 
them each ten crowns at Easter as a gift, in ac¬ 
knowledgement of their services, besides what 
he always paid them for extraordinary journeys. 
If they fell into misfortune or disgrace, he en¬ 
deavoured to extricate them from their difficul- 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


141 


ties, and provided them with whatever help they 
required. 

A man named James Civra, whom he had sent 
to Enguera, having fallen ill, he charged the 
physicians and surgeons to attend him assidu¬ 
ously, and at the same time sent him ten crowns 
by his almoner, and three days afterwards nine 
more, with all the nourishment that both he and 
his family could want, and in the course of a 
few days visited him himself to console him and 
to bestow additional relief, telling him to be 
quite easy, for he should be supported until his 
perfect recovery. Don Francis of Navarre, his 
immediate successor in the archbishopric of Va- 
lentia, said, when ho considered his charity and 
his other heroic virtues, “ Where is the man who 
can attain to the height of this giant! ” 


CHAPTER X. 

THE VIGILANCE AND PRUDENCE OF THIS HOLY PASTOR 
IN THE GOVERNMENT OF IIIS FLOCK. 

Of the various qualities springing from the 
love which the good pastor feels for his flock, 
there are two, highly useful and necessary to 
prelates, and indeed to all superiors who desire 
to acquit themselves worthily of their duties. The 
first is vigilance, which demands their utmost 
care and labour to be used for the spiritual good 
of those they govern, and an incessant unwearied 



142 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


watching for their salvation, with a willingness to 
sacrifice even health and life if necessary to obtain 
this object. The second is prudence and Chris¬ 
tian discretion in selecting the most proper op¬ 
portunities and convenient seasons for setting 
about any work with a good hope of success. 

St. Thomas of Villanova, whom the providence 
of God had raised to the episcopate to enlighten 
the Church, and to be an example to the prelates 
of his own time, as well as of all future ages, 
possessed these two virtues in a pre-eminent 
degree. The greatness of his obligations dwelt 
perpetually on his mind, and the thought of his 
responsibility kept him constantly in exercise and 
actively engaged in doing good, knowing on one 
hand the power and stratagems of that roaring 
lion who seeks to make his prey of the wander¬ 
ing sheep, and on the other how weak and 
helpless the sheep are to resist so powerful an 
enemy, unless protected and defended by the 
shepherd of the flock. For this reason he neg¬ 
lected no means for keeping those entrusted to 
his care in safety; he endeavoured to know the 
defects of all, and each in particular, that he 
might be the better able to assist them and 
ward off the assaults of the enemy. It has been 
already related that he kept an account of all 
his clergy; in the same way he had a book for 
lay persons, in which he wrote with his own hand 
the names of the debauchees, concubines, game¬ 
sters, married men who lived separated from their 
wives, and in short of all those generally who 
were leading publicly scandalous lives, that he 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


143 


might reprove them privately and exhort them 
to return to their duty, as his prudence and 
charity dictated. Sometimes he sent for one 
sometimes for another, but always separately, 
and addressed all according to the mind and 
condition of each. His first remonstrances were 
always those of the father and true pastor, and 
if they made no impression he used his autho¬ 
rity as judge, which Spain at that time (and even 
now in certain cases) gave her prelates to punish 
the obstinately guilty. 

Instead of excommunication and the censures 
of the church, which he never employed but with 
extreme pain, he either imprisoned the offender, 
or punished him by some pecuniary fine, which he 
always applied to the relief of the poor, though, 
as already mentioned, he was a great enemy to 
this latter mode of punishment. If in spite of all 
his endeavours he met with any one over whom 
neither gentleness, threats, nor even imprison¬ 
ment had any influence, as a final remedy he had 
recourse to the power of the viceroy, who punish¬ 
ed his hardness of heart by exile, hunting him out 
of the kingdom. The good prelate hoped that 
the fear and shame attending such a chastise¬ 
ment might perhaps lead to amendment; and 
where it failed to produce the desired effect, he 
consoled himself by the thought, that being cut 
off from his flock, the contagion of his bad exam¬ 
ple would no longer infect the rest of the sheep. 

One great cause of regret with S. Thomas was 
the utter impossibility of his becoming acquainted 
with all those who lived under his jurisdiction; 


144 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


his diocese being unusually large and extensive. 
It was on this account that he endeavoured to 
obtain the division of the archbishopric, and of 
the one diocese to make two. He wrote to the 
emperor, representing to him that the state of 
Valentia was quite sufficient for the archbishopric, 
and the mountainous country with that of Xativa 
would very reasonably constitute a bishopric. 
That for his part he was ready to renounce his 
rights and his revenues in proportion as his 
charge should be lessened, and that if it pleased 
his imperial Majesty he would himself write to 
the pope explaining his views, that the more 
bishops there were and the fewer souls they have 
to govern, the more easily will they know them, 
and as our Lord says, “call them by their name,” 
that they may serve, assist, and watch over 
them. 

He was much interested in persuading married 
persons to live together in peace and concord. 
If he heard of an instance where this harmony 
did not exist, he spoke to the husband and wife 
separately, exhorting them to unity of heart, and 
afterwards did the same in presence of them 
both. And from knowing their reciprocal com¬ 
plaints and griefs, he contrived so well and spoke 
so judiciously, that he often renewed their affec¬ 
tion, and left them with the resolution of per¬ 
forming their duties to each other. In cases 
where the rich were concerned, he added to re¬ 
monstrances warnings of the indignation of God 
and of the ruin of their family. If they were 
poor and sinned through ignorance, he charitably 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


145 


instructed them in their duty, and if he perceived 
that poverty was the cause of their estrangement 
from each other, he easily applied a remedy by 
his charity. 

The burning desire he felt for the conversion 
of the Moors in the kingdom of Valentia, con¬ 
tinually occupied his mind, and left him no 
repose. Not being able to achieve this great 
work, he had several times endeavoured to be 
relieved from his responsibility as archbishop; 
and when he found that the powers on whom he 
depended would not consent to it, he wrote to 
the emperor, begging that he would be pleased to 
assign a certain sum sufficient to maintain some 
pious and learned curates, who might also be full 
of zeal to labour in this ungrateful soil. From 
the motions of this same charity, he founded a 
college for newly converted children, with ten 
thousand crowns of rent, which with the permis¬ 
sion of the pope and emperor he alienated from 
the revenues of the archbishopric; beseeching 
them at the same time to see fit to increase this 
foundation from the same source, according as in 
the course of time their numbers increased. 

Before Lent he was accustomed to assemble all 
his preachers, and exhort them to labour dili¬ 
gently during that holy season, explaining to 
them what kind of sins were the most common 
and the most requiring attack. He entreated 
them ever to recollect, that their object in as¬ 
cending the pulpit should not be to preach up 
themselves; nor their design to gain reputation 
by the exhibition of their knowledge or eloquence; 

11 


146 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


but the grand desire of tlieir hearts should be 
to attack and destroy vice, and to found and 
establish in its place the empire of Jesus Christ. 

Those who were confessors, he also prepared 
for this season of penitence, and the harvest of- 
souls, by prescribing certain rules in the form of 
familiar instructions. Such as, that they should 
feel no astonishment or surprise when they found 
grievous sinners at their feet, still less should 
they repulse them by indiscreet zeal; but on the 
contrary, they should receive them warmly, and 
listen to them charitably. At the same time he 
gave them this caution, that if any one appeared 
so hard and indifferent as almost to freeze them 
with his coldness, he must not be absolved, but 
some honest and legitimate excuse for dismissing 
him sought for, with the advice to retire for some 
days from the world, and petition for the grace 
of God to discover the heinousness of sin, and to 
feel the necessary sorrow and compunction for 
having committed it. “And,” he would say, 
“with regard to yourselves, be sure always to 
implore the mercy of our Lord in their behalf, in 
your prayers and sacrifices, and you will see that 
His Divine Goodness will by this means bless 
your undertakings. This is what I assure you I 
practise myself, and I find the benefit of so 
doing;” a striking testimony of the value which 
the Saint set upon the soul and its salvation, and 
an illustrious proof of his prudence and charity 
in conducting and assisting them in the ways of 
God. 

There were certain maxims and principles of 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


147 


prudence from which he never departed, some of 
which I will mention. That it was requisite to 
teach and explain to all whatever was necessary 
to be fqllowed or avoided; carefully to seek the 
most suitable means for arriving at the end pro¬ 
posed; to make use of the laws, and to apply 
universal rules to particular cases, conformably 
to the times and the necessities of each person. 
These, and such as these, were his favourite 
maxims. 

He was never deterred from any undertaking 
by rumours or reports. He listened patiently to 
tedious narrations, that he might be enabled to 
form a more mature and weighty judgment. He 
never engaged in a certain evil under the appear¬ 
ance of good. By a wise and holy condescension 
he accommodated himself to the young, the igno¬ 
rant, and the weak; and, like another Elijah, he 
used every means for the good of his fellow men. 
However inconsiderable the affair might be, he 
never resolved upon anything suddenly, but took 
time to consider, saying usually, “We shall say 
mass to-morrow, and we will pray God to inspire 
us with what He will have us to do.” It was very 
difficult to make him believe the failings of any 
one, unless he heard it from persons of autho¬ 
rity and gravity. He suspended his judgment 
until he was certain of the thing from the mouth 
of the accused himself, or by the depositions 
of several who were ocular witnesses of the 
fact. He generally attributed to passion or sur¬ 
prise what he heard of others, unless he had the 
clearest proof to the contrary. To yield his 


148 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


rights, when by doing so he could avoid conten¬ 
tion and deprive the world of a subject of ani¬ 
madversion, was never a difficulty with him. For 
the sake of peace he often dissembled his feelings, 
and appeared not to notice things which other 
persons beneath him in station would have laid 
hold of in order to resent. He made as few new 
ordinances as possible, saying, that to publish 
orders, to multiply commands, and to add to 
censures, except from absolute necessity, was 
nothing short of exciting opposition, and giving 
occasion for men to olfend God more grievously, 
since he who fears not to commit a mortal sin, 
will scarcely care for censures. 

Having found on his arrival in Valentia that 
a great number of the inhabitants kept mis¬ 
tresses, he severely rebuked them in his ser¬ 
mons, and endeavoured by every means in his 
power to reform them; but not seeing the 
amendment he wished, he threatened them 
from the pulpit, and told them publicly, that if 
they once by their incorrigibility obliged him 
to have recourse to censures and excommuni¬ 
cation, he would act against all and each in 
particular with the utmost rigour and severity. 
Some time after this he caused his mandate to 
be posted up, and the nature of the punish¬ 
ments he was ready to denounce against the 
guilty. This mandate caused much dismay 
and excitement throughout the city, and in¬ 
duced several of the principal inhabitants to go 
to the archbishop beseeching him not to pro¬ 
ceed to extremities; endeavouring to persuade 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


149 


him that though his intention was praiseworthy 
in itself, yet these were not times to exercise 
his authority without doing much evil and very 
little good. He replied, that since neither his 
entreaties nor threats would lead them to amend¬ 
ment, he was resolved to employ this last rem¬ 
edy; adding, that with regard to the evil they 
foresaw would happen to several, it would be 
their own fault, not his; that in this affair he 
acted from a sense of duty, his object being to 
produce a reformation in any way that he could, 
lie wished also to show to all the world that he 
was not one to flatter men in their vices through 
servile fear, since he was determined to do what¬ 
ever lay in his power to punish them and oppose 
himself to their scandalous conduct. In this 
resolution he showed so much firmness that the 
offenders were terrified, and the greater part, 
though probably against their will, returned to 
their duty and gave up those sinful connexions. 

This procedure, which only deserved applause 
from its great success, failed not to meet with 
a censor to whom it gave offence. This was a 
certain Doctor, who had wished that immediately 
after the noise of the thunder, the Saint had 
hurled the thunder-bolt upon the criminals, and 
could not refrain from openly blaming his wis¬ 
dom; saying, that the archbishop and all his 
ministers had sinned mortally by their too great 
indulgence. The good prelate replied to him 
who brought an account of this, “Without doubt 
this theologian is a good man, but of the 
number of those fervent ones mentioned by St. 


150 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


Paul as possessing zeal without knowledge.’’ He 
then ordered the canon, Non potest, qucest. 4, 
caus. 23, which is taken from the third chapter 
of the second book of St. Augustine, to be 
brought and read to him, where this holy Doctor 
expressly instructs prelates and all ecclesiastical 
superiors, that when they find that a vice is very 
deeply rooted it is better to have recourse to our 
Lord by prayers and tears, reproving the sinner 
in the spirit of love and charity, than to take the 
sword in hand and excite the passions of men by 
excommunications and censures. “ Is that good 
man who does not entertain these sentiments 
aware,” said he, “of the care and pains I have 
taken to correct those against whom his anger is 
directed? Have I not reproved and exhorted 
them several times, both in public and private, 
and mentioned them as incorrigible to the vice¬ 
roy and governor of Valentia? Let him in short 
inquire whether St. Augustine and St. John Chry¬ 
sostom, those two great lights of the church, used 
anathemas and excommunication, to arrest the 
progress of drunkenness and swearing, which were 
so common amongst the people under their care? 
No: for they were too wise and too prudent. They 
did not think it right to exchange a little good 
for a great evil, nor inconsiderately to use their 
authority, and thus excite the aversion of those 
whose friendship they wished to obtain in order 
to influence them for their good.” 

The prudence of the Saint shone conspicuously 
in the invention of certain means, equally ingeni¬ 
ous and innocent, that he sometimes used to draw 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


151 


persons of distinction from the habits of sin, when 
neither his sermons nor private admonitions had 
been able to arouse them to a sense of their duty. 

For a long time he had with the utmost solici¬ 
tude endeavoured to procure an amendment of life 
in one of his canons, without making the least 
impression on his mind. He resolved to gain his 
friendship, whatever it might cost him; for which 
purpose he dismissed the subject of his past life, 
and for two years continued to show him every 
imaginable kindness and favour, until he thought 
lie had not a greater friend in the world. Seeing 
he had gained his affection, he chose his time 
and said to him one day, “I am convinced of 
your good will towards me, and that you would 
feel gratified in doing me a service; is it not so?” 
The canon assured him of his friendship, and 
protested that there was nothing, however diffi¬ 
cult it might be, that he would not undertake with 
the object of pleasing him, if he would do him 
the honour to confide in him. “I believe you,” 
replied the Saint. “I have an affair at Rome 
which requires an intelligent man like yourself 
to manage it, to obtain a happy result. Will you 
take charge of it, and make this journey for me? 
For I know not any one into whose hands I can 
entrust my interests more securely than in yours.” 
The truth was, he was in want of some one near 
the pope to solicit a brief, without which he was 
unable to surmount some great difficulties that 
were raised to prevent the reformation of certain 
religious, whom he wished to reduce to inclosure. 
At first the canon was very much surprised and 


152 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


astonished, yet not being able to find any plau¬ 
sible excuse, he made, as is said, a virtue of ne¬ 
cessity, and replied, that he was ready to execute 
what he should be pleased to command. “ Now 
then,” said the prelate, “return to your residence, 
take leave of your friends, and settle your affairs 
as if you were never to return from this journey, 
because in reality it is long and dangerous.” After 
finding these orders had been obeyed, he said, 
“ Come this evening to my house, and we will 
sup together. You shall sleep there also, and 
to-morrow morning early I will set you on your 
way. You need not bring any servant; I will 
give you one of mine, who shall accompany you, 
and who will serve you better than any of your 
own.” But the good prelate, who was more 
anxious for the eternal interests of the canon 
than for his affair at Rome, having taken leave 
of him in his chamber, instead of retiring to his 
own, went into his oratory, where he passed the 
night praying and weeping at the foot of a cru¬ 
cifix. A little before day he returned to his 
guest’s room, saying, “ My friend, you have omit¬ 
ted to do something of consequence. You have 
settled your house and affairs, you have even 
assured me that you have made your will as if on 
the point of death; but as far as I can judge the 
principal thing yet remains to be done, which is, 
to set your conscience in order, imploring assist¬ 
ance from on high by a good confession and com¬ 
munion, for the happy termination of so long and 
perilous a journey. On this account, as my busi¬ 
ness at Rome is not urgent, your departure can 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


153 


be delayed a month. I have thought of a project 
which may not perhaps be disagreeable to you, 
which is, that since you cannot return to your 
own house, nor make your appearance in the city, 
without creating inquiry, you should remain qui¬ 
etly here. Nobody but myself and the single 
servant who will attend upon you in your cham¬ 
ber will know anything of it. Every one will 
think you are set out on your journey. You can 
employ yourself in making an examination of 
your conscience, that you may afterwards confess 
to whomsoever you shall select. We will send 
for the priest you shall choose, to receive your 
confession without letting him know who you are; 
after which I will communicate you in the chapel, 
and you shall then depart with the blessing of 
our Lord, which it ought to be our object to 
obtain upon every undertaking.” 

The canon listened to the archbishop as if God 
Himself had spoken to him, and acquiesced in 
all that he proposed. At the end of a month 
his confessor persuaded him to ask for a further 
delay, telling him it would be much to his spi¬ 
ritual advantage, to remain in seclusion for 
another month, perfectly to accomplish that work 
which our Lord had begun in his soul. He will¬ 
ingly complied with his advice, his heart being 
already so touched that he was quite another 
man. The Saint granted his request with joy, 
well knowing how useful and indeed necessary it 
was for his establishment in good. Two months 
having thus passed away, the journey was still 
delayed, the expected letters from Rome, with- 


154 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


out which he could not proceed, not having yet 
arrived. As it was God Himself who by a special 
providence conducted the affair for the good of 
the soul of this devout recluse, He inspired him 
with a willingness to remain in retirement, as 
the good prelate wished, till the letters arrived 
from Rome, which he really believed could not be 
much longer delayed. He continued six months 
occupied in the holy and salutary exercises of 
penitence without feeling the least weariness, 
so delightful had solitude become to him. At 
length, at the end of that period, the brief ar¬ 
rived. The good prelate showing it to his devout 
penitent, said, “ See, the brief itself is come in¬ 
stead of the letters I expected, so that it will 
not be necessary for you to undertake the fatigue 
of this journey. Nevertheless, I feel as much 
indebted to you as if you had actually performed 
it, and will endeavour to recompense you on 
every occasion I may meet with, of testifying 
my friendship for you. This evening the news 
of your arrival will be spread abroad, and to¬ 
morrow morning you can return to your house.” 
His conversion was complete, and the change in 
his life and manners astonished all those of 
Valentia who had known him before, seeing the 
grace of God superabound where sin had before 
abounded. This was a singular proof of the 
Saint’s care and love for the souls under his 
charge, and of the admirable prudence with which 
he treated them in order to obtain their salvation. 

By this same spirit of prudence he knew how 
to accommodate himself to simple and sincere 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


155 


persons, charitably bearing with their ignorance 
when it proceeded from zeal and piety, however 
great and extraordinary their mistakes might be. 
On one occasion several villagers of Mislara, in 
the diocese of Valentia, seeing the air thickened 
and covered with clouds, which threatened a 
sudden and horrible tempest, the thunder begin¬ 
ning to roll on all sides, whilst the continual 
lightning made the heavens appear to be on fire, 
ran into the church to entreat the curate to pre¬ 
sent himself at the door of the church with the 
Cross or the Blessed Sacrament, in order that it 
might please God to avert the threatened danger. 
Not finding the priest there, a good old man 
amongst them clothed himself in a cassock, and 
with a napkin proceeded to take the ciborium 
where was the Blessed Sacrament, and to carry 
it to the lower end of the church, followed by 
other peasants, with a wax candle in his hand, 
to implore the Divine mercy with much faith and 
devotion. This action was in itself rash, and 
deserved to be punished in the person of the old 
man, who made the sign of the cross and gave 
the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament which 
he held in his hands. Nevertheless our Lord, by 
the virtue of His Divine presence, granted to the 
faith and piety of these poor people an answer to 
their petition, visibly dispersing the storm which 
they dreaded, without its touching their territory. 
This fact being related to the archbishop, he sent 
for the good old man who had taken the promi¬ 
nent part in the affair. Ho praised his faith and 
zeal, but reproved him for his too little reverence 


156 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


for the Blessed Sacrament, and made him fully 
understand his fault; and to expiate it, knowing 
he had some little property, he ordered him for 
a year to carry two white wax candles to the 
church, and to cause them to be lighted before 
the Blessed Sacrament every Sunday and festival 
during mass, until the post-communion. 


CHAPTER XL 

OF TIIE WONDERFUL CHARITY OF S. THOMAS TOWARDS 
THE FOOR. 

Those who know what S. Thomas thought con¬ 
cerning the obligation of all bishops and ecclesi¬ 
astical superiors to liberality in alms-giving, and 
who have heard the reason why he was called the 
father and great almoner of the poor, will have 
no difficulty in believing what is recorded of his 
extreme munificence towards them. He loved 
them so tenderly, and was always so much dis¬ 
posed to do them good, that not content with 
giving them what he could spare, he often de¬ 
prived himself of the common necessaries of life 
to assist them in their distresses. On his arrival 
in Valentia, he obtained information through Dr. 
Misleguer, who came to welcome him, of the 
amount of the archiepiscopal revenues, and ex¬ 
pressed dissatisfaction at finding that it was not 
more than eighteen thousand ducats. “ I have 
been deceived,” said he, “I was told it was worth 
more. But do not imagine that I complain on my 



ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


157 


own account, or that it is my own interests which 
I am considering when I speak in this maimer, 
since a thousand ducats are more than sufficient 
to support me and my family. But I am sorry 
because of the number of poor, which is so great 
in this country; and from what you say I shall 
not have enough to maintain them.” After the 
general synod was concluded, which he had as¬ 
sembled for the spiritual good of his diocesans, 
he directed all his care and thoughts to the man¬ 
agement and distribution of his temporalities, to 
be enabled to support the poor. 

Of his eighteen thousand ducats he gave to 
them twelve thousand, including the thousand 
spent in the foundation of some chaplains in the 
cathedral, to increase the number of those who 
assisted at the night office, and the two thousand 
that went to the college and rectories he had 
likewise founded for the new converts. With the 
remaining six thousand he paid a pension of two 
thousand to Don George of Austria, his predeces¬ 
sor; and the other four were employed in his 
household expenses, and paying the officers of 
justice, as procurors, advocates, and others. 

Every day there was cooked in his house a 
large caldron of meat or fish, according to the 
season, which was given to poor travellers who 
were in want. Moreover, to others who generally 
came about noon, there was a regular distribution 
of soup, bread, and a cup of wine, with the ad¬ 
dition of money to those that were maimed or 
sick. The poor who came there daily were from 
four to five hundred, and sometimes more, so that 


158 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


although the court was large and spacious, they 
were sometimes obliged, as one may say, to make 
a second table. The charity of those who received 
them did not deprive of their portions those who 
did not come in proper time ; they were welcome 
at all hours, because the Saint had expressly 
commanded that no one should go from his house 
unrelieved; but at the same time he directed 
they should be warned that henceforth they 
should be more punctual to the hours assigned. 
He never relaxed his liberality, though he was 
constantly told that a number of these poor 
people were idle vagabonds, who abused his good¬ 
ness, and who laughed at his servants after hav¬ 
ing deceived them by obtaining two alms instead 
of one. “If,” said the Saint, “there are here 
vagabonds and idle people, it is for the governor 
and the judge of police to look to them; that is 
their duty; mine is no other than to assist and 
relieve those who come to my door. God in His 
mercy preserve us from ever refusing an alms to 
the poor! What matters it if they do deceive us 
and laugh at us, provided that we relieve them 
in sincerity of heart, and in the name of Him 
who to enrich us was willing to live and die 
poor?” As he one day looked from his hall into 
the court, where alms where then being distribu¬ 
ted, he perceived a poor man, after having receiv¬ 
ed his portion, pass over to the side where those 
were standing who had not yet been served. 
Nevertheless, he did not perform this feat so 
skilfully but that one of the servants detected 
him, and loaded him with reproaches. The man 


ST. THOMAS OP Y ILL AN OVA. 


159 


maintained that he had received nothing, and 
proceeded to utter complaints and invectives. 
The good archbishop, who knew the truth, sent 
to tell the servant to be silent, and to satisfy the 
poor man, and also desired to know the reason of 
the uproar. “ My lord,” said the servant, “it is 
because I know well that this man has already 
been relieved, and I assure you they endeavour 
to impose on us as much as they can.” “What,” 
said the Saint, “ do you call it imposing on you 
to receive two alms ? I see well that you do not 
know what it is to be poor; henceforth dispute 
no more with them; suffer them to impose on 
you; may it not be that you are yourself imposed 
on, and that this poor man, whom you call a 
deceiver, may be an angel that God sends you, 
to try your charity and patience ? ” 

Amongst those poor whom shame prevented 
from discovering their distress, he caused two 
hundred ducats to be distributed by his almoners 
every three months, according to the necessities 
of each, besides what he gave with his own hands 
by the help of the list which he had, of all the 
necessitous persons of every parish. He so ar¬ 
ranged it that those of one parish came to him one 
week, and those of another, another; so that he 
was able to see them all himself, and give them 
relief every three months; no day in tho week 
passing in which he did not in this manner see 
and relieve more than fifteen or twenty persons. 
He also assisted poor gentlemen who were in 
difficulties, as well as ladies, young and old, and 
persons who had formerly lived in prosperity; 


160 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


giving them such liberal assistance as to enable 
them to live comfortably ; assigning to this duty 
the first clay of every month. Sometimes they 
came to him, as persons unknown, in his chapel, 
and secretly received his help. 

With regard to certain persons whose quality 
would not allow them to come to his house, he 
employed priests or religious, in whom he knew 
he could confide, to discharge so delicate an office. 
By these means, and others like them, which 
his charity invented, he supported a number of 
noblemen and widows of rank with so much 
prudence and compassion, that they lived on his 
charity without injuring their reputation or that 
of their families. And if they had daughters to 
marry, he increased his liberality in proportion, 
in order that by increasing their dowry they 
might make suitable matches. But what was 
particularly to be admired, was the way in which 
he contrived to help those, ladies especially, who 
endured great misery without having the courage 
to disclose it, nor to ask or receive alms. He 
endeavoured to learn who were their confessors, 
then sent for them, and promising secrecy, ex¬ 
acted the same from them, and then learning 
exactly what were the distresses of their peni¬ 
tents, he remitted to them a sum of money, 
strictly forbidding the priest to mention the 
name of their benefactor, and only to say that it 
was from one who owed them a certain sum, but 
who not having the means to pay it all at once, 
would do so from time to time, if he might be 
allowed thus to discharge his debt. The Saint 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


161 


spoke truly, since according to his own doctrine, 
bishops make no alms to the poor, properly 
speaking, as they are obliged to give them what 
is justly their due. 

Ingenuity in devising means of doing good is 
the property of true charity when arrived at per¬ 
fection. No one, therefore, will feel surprise that 
our Saint, who possessed this virtue in so eminent 
a degree, should employ so many pious devices, 
and use them so skilfully, in his endeavours to 
benefit the whole world. The employment of his 
own possessions for the good of the poor did not 
content him, but as if his whole heart and 
thoughts were fixed on this one object, he wished 
that others also should do the same; and when 
any visited him, he endeavoured to lead them to 
the like feelings of compassion and interest. A 
citizen of Valentia, named Louis Camarene, a 
charitable and devout man, never came to see 
him without his inquiring after the poor of his 
parish, and all his discourse with him tended to 
recommend them to his care, and to induce him 
to do all in his power to increase the alms that 
had been left by the faithful for their subsistence. 
On one occasion he gave him advice worthy of 
his prudence and charity. “ I assure you,” said 
he, “ that I feel much friendship for you, because 
I see you have so much compassion for the poor. 
For this reason, believe me, I counsel you as your 
friend, to dispose of all your property in favour 
of the poor; and to do for them in your lifetime 
all that you had intended to do after your death ; 
because God, who can touch the hearts of the 
12 


162 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


rich at all times and in all places, to supply the 
wants of the poor, will not demand from you an 
account of those who are to come, but you will 
be responsible for those you see uow before you in 
distress, and neglect to relieve them when you 
have the power of doing so.” 

With the same zeal and charity he provided 
for the sick, poor girls, and little children. When 
it was known that he took charge of foundlings, 
nursing them, and bringing them up at his own 
expense, there were often three or four of them 
laid at his door during the night. So that some¬ 
times he had as many as sixty, seventy, or eighty 
under his care. He was neither displeased nor 
astonished at this, nor did he consider it any 
liberty that they should thus bring them to their 
archbishop. On the coutrary, considering the 
innocence of these little creatures, and not the 
guilt of their parents, he received them with joy 
and delight, following the example of our Lord. 

Two of his servants once detected a man in 
the act of leaving his child at the archbishop’s 
garden gate. After some contention they allowed 
him to depart, and taking the child they brought 
it to the holy prelate who was then at supper. 
He received it into his arms with a cheerful 
and satisfied countenance, inquired if it had 
been baptised, and gave it his blessing when he 
found it had received holy baptism. Then the 
servants informed him that they had seized the 
father before taking charge of the child, and that 
they might have brought him there if they had 
wished. “ You did wrong,” said he, “ to attack 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


163 


the father. What did you suppose I should do 
to him, if you had conducted him into my pre¬ 
sence ? Are not these poor people miserable 
enough in their indigence, without afflicting 
them by unnecessary disgrace ? Never let it 
occur again.” Then giving the child to bishop 
Cevrian, who was at table with him, he begged 
him to find a nurse for it as soon as possible. 
“We have,” said he, “ forty-eight children to 
provide for, and now we shall have forty-nine ; 
but if we have found means to feed and clothe 
forty-eight, we can surely do the same for forty- 
nine, and more still if it please God to send 
them to us. For I hold it as indubitable, that 
nothing will ever be wanting to us for the sup¬ 
port of the poor.” With the same goodness he 
made a point of seeing these children from time 
to time, and ordered their nurses to bring them 
to his house every first day of the month. And 
when they were arranged in the hall through 
which he passed to go to say mass, he stopped 
and looked at all the children one after ano¬ 
ther, making inquiries of their nurses as to their 
state of health, and what care they took of them. 
He reproved the negligent, and gave money above 
their wages to those whose children were cleaner 
and in better condition than the others, to induce 
them all, by the hope of reward, faithfully to per¬ 
form their duties. 

In the same manner he took charge of poor 
orphans, who by the death of their parents were 
left without money or protection; and for this 
purpose he engaged a prudent and aged matron 


164 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


to bring them up with every possible care. A 
poor shoemaker and his wife having by their 
death left three little children entirely destitute, 
the Saint sent for them, and placed them with 
this good woman, recommending them especially 
to her tender solicitude. The love and affection 
he showed for these little innocents, so won upon 
their hearts, that as soon as they saw him they 
ran to him as they would have done to their own 
father, which cliild-like confidence continued till 
they arrived at a proper age, when he placed 
each of them with masters to learn some trade 
suitable to their birth. He also educated a great 
number of others, and his love for them all ex¬ 
tended even beyond the grave ; having said him¬ 
self a short time before his death, that he had 
paid for the nurses and the other expenses of the 
children for three years after his death. 

His almoner was strictly charged to provide 
the sick with whatever their several disorders 
required; to give them the best meat for soups, 
preserves, and in short whatever was ordered by 
the physician, whom he kept together with a sur¬ 
geon and apothecary for the benefit of the poor. 
He always wished that something in particular 
should be added for those who were afflicted with 
incurable diseases, in order to console them and 
soften the bitterness of their sufferings. 

The interest he took in young girls who were 
poor made him extraordinarily liberal towards 
them, assisting them with the utmost judgment 
and charity. So much so, that it is said there 
was not a single marriage amongst the poor in 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


165 


Valentia while lie was archbishop, to which he 
did not give his contribution according as he 
judged necessary. He had no fixed time or day 
to exercise this kind of charity. At whatever 
time they applied to him his alms was always 
ready. One condition was, that they should be 
always accompanied by their mothers, that he 
might make himself acquainted with their cir¬ 
cumstances ; and he never dismissed them with¬ 
out giving them some pious instruction upon the 
duties of their state. He then assigned some 
future day for their return, making use of the in¬ 
terim to inform himself, by means of his almoner 
or other discreet persons, of the truth of what 
had been told him. If the account proved to be 
true, he gave them sufficient to enable them to 
marry, and if not, they received only his ordinary 
alms, as he made it a rule that no necessitous 
person should ever leave his presence empty- 
handed. The money employed in this kind of 
charity amounted to a very considerable sum, 
there being no poor girls who had gained some¬ 
thing in service to whose dowry he did not add 
twenty crowns; and as for those who had nothing, 
their parents having been obliged from some good 
reason to keep them at home, he gave them forty 
or fifty crowns, sometimes even seventy or eighty, 
according to their rank in life. There were gen¬ 
erally five-and-twenty or thirty every year that 
he thus provided for. Those young girls who 
were commonly thought to be well off, but who 
in reality were not so, received more ample do¬ 
nations. To one he gave a hundred ducats, to 


166 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


others two or three, or even more, according to 
their state in life, interest never being requisite 
to obtain his help, still less that they should 
exaggerate their wants ; for his hand was always 
open, and he was never better pleased than when 
he could anticipate their wants by his liberality. 
A young man upon the point of marrying, begged 
him to bestow twenty crowns upon him, to enable 
him to purchase some few articles of furniture; 
saying also, that the girl he was about to marry 
was as poor as himself. His request was imme¬ 
diately granted, and the Saint hearing he wa3 
by trade a carpenter, commanded his treasurer 
instead of twenty crowns to count out fifty, to 
give him the means of buying wood for his work. 
The young man, surprised at the excess of his 
goodness, threw himself at his feet to return his 
humble thanks; but the Saint raising him up 
said, “My son, return thanks to God for this 
assistance; for what I have given you is from 
His property, not mine,” and then dismissed him 
with his blessing. He exercised the same charity 
towards a poor girl without solicitation; adding 
thirty crowns to what he had before appointed for 
her, to enable her husband to buy materials to 
carry on his trade at the commencement of their 
housekeeping. The same often occurred in his 
liberalities to persons of quality, repeatedly add¬ 
ing a hundred crowns, as though he thought he 
had given too little; his unlimited charity always 
prompting him to do more and more. 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


107 


CHAPTER XII. 

CONTINUATION OF THE ACCOUNT OF HIS CHARITY 
TOWARDS THE POOR. 

This good prelate’s compassion for the poor was 
so great, that not content with assisting them 
by his immense charities, he never felt greater 
joy than when an occasion offered of doing them 
good, nor did he ever feel wearied or importuned 
by the number or frequency of their requests. 
In the church of our Lady of Succours, there 
came one day a man, who throwing himself upon 
his knees before the tomb of S. Thomas shortly 
after his death began to sigh and shed tears 
abundantly. The sacristan having noticed his 
deep feeling, asked him after the conclusion of 
his prayer what was the cause of his grief. 
“ Father,” said the man, “do not be surprised 
at what you have seen. Two things have passed 
between this blessed one and myself, which I 
can never call to mind without feeling the same 
sorrow that I did on the day my good father 
died. The one of them was this. I owed a sum 
of money to a priest. For some time he had 
patience with me, and upon my promising soon 
to discharge the debt, he refrained from arrest¬ 
ing me. But at length, wearied with my fre¬ 
quent delays, he put an execution in my house, 
so that I was upon the point of losing all my 
furniture. 

“ Touched with compassion, one of my neigh- 


168 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOYA. 


hours advised me to go and complain to the 
archbishop, assuring me that he was too good 
and merciful not to order the priest to give me 
a further respite. I thought I ought not to do 
this, having so long abused his patience; and 
it seemed to me to be quite just he should act 
as he had done, as I was in the wrong for having 
so often failed to keep my word. 

“ Nevertheless, my affairs were so urgent and 
my friends so pressing, one of them even offering 
to accompany me, that I consented to go. The 
good arclihishop received us very affably, and 
inquired at once how he could serve us. I told 
him the state of my affairs, and that I owed the 
priest seven crowns. ‘ Seven crowns,’ said he, 

* it is a considerable sum for this priest to lose; 
no doubt he stands as much in need of it as 
you do.’ Then calling his steward, he ordered 
him to give me seven crowns to pay my debt, 
saying to me, ‘ Go quickly and satisfy your 
creditor, for from his acting in this manner, I 
judge that he suffers no less than yourself.’ 
This was not all. After having received this 
gift from his hands, I fell into another difficulty, 
which obliged me again to have recourse to his 
charity, without which I should never have re¬ 
covered. I was oppressed with debts on every 
side, and destitute of means to discharge them 
unless I sold the house which I held of the arch¬ 
bishop. I was solicited by my creditors them¬ 
selves, to demand of the archbishop some dimi¬ 
nution of his right to the fine of alienation ; 
but I had not the boldness to present myself 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


169 


before him, feeling it would be a kind of temerity 
to do so. However, my notary, who knew the 
Saint better than myself, managed so well that 
he took me there himself. He recognized me 
immediately, and spoke with so much familiarity 
and kindness that I opened my whole heart to 
him, explaining all my necessities and miseries, 
and asked pardon if I was so importunate as 
to beg him after the favour he had shown me, 
to release me from a part of the fine of aliena¬ 
tion that I owed him for my house ; the extrem¬ 
ity to which I was reduced constraining me to 
act in this manner. The word ‘importunate’ 
displeased him. ‘My child,’ said he, ‘do not 
speak thus. I look upon no one as importunate, 
whoever he may be, who comes to me in his 
hour of need. Do you not know that I am in 
this place for the very purpose of hearing your 
distresses, and of relieving them to the utmost 
of my power?’ He then inquired what the fine 
of alienation was, and having learned, that if 
he withdrew his claims in my favour, the money 
would not fall into my hands, seeing it was a 
part of the price of my house, he refused my 
request and granted it in another manner. He 
caused what was due to him to be taken from 
his own funds and laid on the table, and then 
turning to the notary, asked him if this money 
did not belong to him, and if he could not dis¬ 
pose of it as he pleased. He was answered that 
he certainly could do so. ‘ Take it then,’ said 
he to me; ‘I give it to you. And you, notary, 
I declare in your presence that I give it to him, 


170 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


so that I intend he should not be deprived of it 
under any claim of debt whatever ; for in that 
case I should only do the same again. Go, then, 
my child, make use of this little sum, and hence¬ 
forth do not fear to be importunate, whenever 
you stand in need of my assistance.’ ” He did 
a charitable act of the same nature to a poor 
artisan, whom his creditors obliged to sell his 
house. To prevent them reaping the benefit of 
his alms, he himself brought what was due to 
him in right of the fine of alienation, and freely 
giving it to him said, ‘ Take this, my friend, it 
is not mine, it belongs to the poor.’ ” 

The sacristan of our Lady of Succours, Father 
John Rezier, one day found a certain woman 
praying before the tomb of the Saint, and seeing 
her weep so bitterly, asked her the reason of her 
tears and grief. “ Father,” said she, “ it is not 
easy for those who knew the charity of this 
blessed archbishop, and who like myself have 
felt the effects of it, to behold his tomb with a dry 
eye. I will relate to you what some years be¬ 
fore his death, a lady of rank in this city told 
me regarding him. She had disposed of all the 
best of her property in order to support herself, 
and in the last necessity to which she was re¬ 
duced, without daring to discover it, she begged 
me, knowing I had the entry of the archbishop’s 
house, to represent to him her extreme distress, 
and to beg him to have pity on her, without, 
however, mentioning in what way she wished to 
be assisted. I went to seek him, and mentioned 
to him the poverty of this poor lady. Imme- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


171 


diately, without questioning me as to where 
and how I became acquainted with her, or who 
she was, he gave me a very considerable sum 
for her use. ‘ Carry that to her now,’ said he, 

‘ and return to me whenever she wants the like 
assistance, without any fear of being trouble¬ 
some to me. Tell her to love solitude, and to 
take great care to serve God, and as to myself, 
I promise you, I will not fail to help her accord¬ 
ing to the power that God gives me.’ ” 

Time would fail me to relate innumerable 
other instances of the charity of this holy arch¬ 
bishop, who, besides his ordinary alms, was ac¬ 
customed, like the patriarch Abraham, to stand 
at the entrance of his house, to invite passen¬ 
gers to enter that he might exercise the virtue of 
hospitality. In going to and returning from mass 
it was his practice to remain for some time in 
his hall to see and listen to the poor ; the mercy 
he showed them at those hours making a part 
of his preparation and thanksgivings before and 
after the holy sacrifice. 

This great servant of God and true father of 
the poor often said that alms consisted less in 
giving, than in relieving those who were suffer¬ 
ing; adding that the Christian who has the power 
of delivering his neighbour from unhappiness or 
misery of any kind, and forbears to do it, is 
unworthy of the name of almoner. It was this 
principle which made him so often do more than 
he was asked, always presuming that he had 
not done enough. 

Having heard that the widow of a poor artisan, 


172 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


who had several little children, had much diffi¬ 
culty in bringing them up, and endured many 
hardships, he allowed her a sum of money every 
month. But finding in spite of this help that 
she often experienced scarcity, he asked her if 
she was able to do anything to assist herself, 
and by that means support herself and her chil¬ 
dren more comfortably. She answered that she 
knew how to prepare peeled barley ; upon which 
he ordered them to provide her with grain and 
whatever else was necessary for the employ¬ 
ment, so that by means of her labour, and his 
continued assistance, she by degrees recovered 
from the pitiable state to which she had been 
reduced. Poor artisans were often indebted to 
him for buying them the tools and instruments 
necessary to carry on their trade; and some¬ 
times he would add a sum of money to en¬ 
courage them to proceed cheerfully in their la¬ 
bours. 

A gentleman of Valentia, to whom the Saint 
allowed fifteen crowns a month for the support 
of his family, finding himself at one time sadly 
pressed by some affair which had happened most 
inopportunely, thought of having recourse to his 
kind benefactor. But being in the constant re¬ 
ceipt of his bounty, he felt afraid and ashamed 
to go to him, but went in the night to one of 
his almoners, begging him to represent his dis¬ 
tress to the good archbishop. He did so, and 
the Saint far from being displeased at his re¬ 
quest was touched with compassion. “See,” said 
he, “to what a pitch of distress this poor gen- 


ST. THOMAS OF V1LLANOVA. 


173 


tleman must liavo arrived, since in addition to 
the fifteen crowns he regularly receives, he comes 
at this time of the night to beg for more. Let 
him instantly have twenty crowns.” Then a 
moment after calling to his almoner, he said, 
“ Count me out forty, for my heart tells me that 
it would not be for a trifling distress he would 
come here at such an hour. Endeavour to com¬ 
fort him, and tell him from me to trust in God.” 
It was not only this or that person who excited 
his pity and compassion, but as our heavenly Fa¬ 
ther makes his sun to shine on the evil and on 
the good, on the just and on the unjust, so did 
he in like manner bestow his alms upon people 
who deserved it for their virtues, and others also, 
who by their bad conduct were unworthy of it. 
He relieved these last from the fear that by 
withholding his benefits they might become har¬ 
dened in wickedness and rush forward to their 
eternal ruin. 

One day he was informed that another gentle¬ 
man to whom he gave fifteen crowns a month 
(which was his usual alms for nobles), made a 
bad use of it, and that instead of employing it 
in maintaining his household, he sometimes spent 
it in gaming. The archbishop was urged to with¬ 
hold, or at least retrench that liberality which 
was so much abused, to teach him wisdom for the 
future. “ No, please God,” replied the good pre¬ 
late ; “for if he does one wrong thing with the 
money I give him, he might perhaps do two if I 
took it away from him.” However, though he 
defended the accused in his absence, he reproved 


174 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


him severely in private, threatening him to give 
him nothing more if he did not change his life; 
and corrected him so judiciously that henceforth 
no one complained of his conduct. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

SEQUEL OF THE SAME SUBJECT. 

I doubt not that what has been said above of 
the charities and bounties of S. Thomas of Villa- 
nova will astonish those who regard them only 
with the eyes of the flesh, seeing that they great¬ 
ly exceeded his revenues. Human prudence is 
not able to conceive how he who has but twenty 
thousand crowns can give away fifty and sixty 
thousand. But those who know the virtue of 
almsgiving, and how commonly our Blessed Lord 
multiplies alms in the hands of His almoners, 
enabling them with five loaves to feed thousands 
of persons, and who also know what the industry 
of a good father of a family can accomplish who 
does all he can to increase his store by good 
management, taking care that there are no super¬ 
fluous expenses in his house, will not be astonished 
at those prodigies of charity which this blessed 
prelate performed by means of his holy and 
praiseworthy economy. Divine Providence, who 
had created him for the poor, multiplied alms in 
his hands almost with a glance of his eye, whilst 
on his part he spared no trouble to make much 
of little, in order to assist them as much as 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


175 


possible. Meeting one day with his caterer, who 
had just bought him a lamprey, he stopped him 
and inquired what it had cost. “Forty pence,” 
was the reply. “Forty pence!” exclaimed the 
Saint, “ God would not be pleased at my eating 
what cost so much. What! a fish of forty pence 
to dine a religious! go, go, take it back imme¬ 
diately. The purveyor of some person of quality 
will be glad to have it at the price you have 
given for it.” The man replied that he was the 
archbishop and not a religious, and that this fish 
was but a trifle for the dinner of an archbishop. 
“My friend, ,, replied he, “it is true that I am 
the archbishop, but it does not please me to hear 
you say I am not a religious. Besides, how often 
have I told you and all those of my household, 
that we bishops are no less obliged to consider 
the interests of the poor in all we do, than are 
fathers of families obliged to consider those of 
their children.” 

At another time wishing to have an old habit 
repaired, he sent for a tailor and asked him what 
would be the expense, as he wished to make an 
agreement with him before his undertaking it. 
The tailor said he could make no charge for the 
work, as well from respect for the archbishop, as 
because of its trifling nature, but would leave it 
for the archbishop to give him what he thought 
proper. Upon being pressed to name a sum, he 
said, “ My lord, you will then give me, if you 
please, so much.” But the Saint thinking he 
asked too much, made him agree to receive less, 
telling him he would pay what was reasonable. 


176 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


but no more. The tailor reluctantly acquiesced, 
and went away murmuring and scandalized, 
attributing the archbishop’s carefulness to mean¬ 
ness and avarice. The good prelate clearly per¬ 
ceived his dissatisfaction, but took no notice of 
it, not being troubled at his rash judgment, his 
desire of sparing for the poor making him despise 
what any one could either say or think, provided 
there was no fault on his part, and that God 
might not be displeased with him. He always 
trusted that our Lord, who knew the purity of his 
intentions, which aimed only at His glory and the 
good of his neighbour, would know how to defend 
his cause in proper time, and place against the 
censures of men, as he did truly in the case of 
this man. This tailor was a poor man who had 
three daughters, all marriageable, but who re¬ 
mained at home because he had not the means 
of giving them a marriage portion. The parish 
priest of S. Catherine, who knew their circum¬ 
stances, advised him to go to the archbishop, and 
though he could not at first resolve to do so, 
looking upon him as an avaricious person, yet 
the priest at last persuaded him to go, and he 
ingenuously discovered to the kind prelate the 
miserable conjuncture in which he found his 
affairs. The Saint knew him at once, listened 
to him benignly, asked him his name and that 
of his daughters, and then took leave of him, 
charging him to return the next day, and to bring 
his confessor with him. “Go,” said he, “and 
recommend yourself and your daughters to the 
protection of God, and beg of Him to be favour- 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


177 


able to you.” Having afterwards learned the 
truth from the confessor, whom he summoned 
immediately, to inquire about these poor girls, 
and the advantageous occasion which offered of 
settling them, “What dowry do you think they 
will require?” asked he. The priest having 
replied that he thought thirty crowns apiece 
would be quite sufficient, he willingly gave it 
them, and the tailor was to receive it the next 
day, and to return thanks for his bounty. When 
he arrived, the Saint accosted him thus: “ I pro¬ 
mised your confessor yesterday, to give each of 
your daughters thirty crowns, but as I have since 
thought it was too little, I will give them fifty, 
that they may have wherewith to buy furniture, 
and anything else they may want to begin house¬ 
keeping.” The poor man was quite overcome by 
such great goodness and mercy, and threw him¬ 
self upon his knees to kiss his benefactor’s feet, 
weeping with mingled joy and confusion. But 
the servant of God raised him up, “Are you not,” 
said he, “the tailor who mended ray habit a short 
time since? yes, without doubt you are the man. 
I remember you were offended, and thought I 
dealt hardly with you; you ought not to have 
been displeased, because I did you no injury, 
and wished to pay the just value of your work, 
and if I was not disposed to pay you more, it was 
not covetousness which influenced me, since the 
only use I can make of money is to assist the 
poor, as you now experience in your own case.” 
This charitable action the Saint desired to keep 
secret, but the gratitude of the poor tailor com- 
13 


178 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


pelled him to publish it wherever he went, and 
to eulogise his great bounty and munificence. 

I will relate another incident no less striking. 
A certain artisan with whom the archbishop was 
not agreed about the payment of some money, 
left his house very dissatisfied, and likewise sus¬ 
pected him of avarice. However, necessity obli¬ 
ged him shortly afterwards to have recourse to 
the good prelate, to obtain something for his 
daughter’s marriage. The Saint granted him 
sixty crowns immediately; and when his steward, 
who was present and who knew what had former¬ 
ly passed between them, said to him, “ My Lord, 
some time ago, you treated this man very differ¬ 
ently to what you do now,” he said, “The 
expense I then incurred was for myself, and this 
is a matter of charity. Then it was my own pro¬ 
perty, or at least that which I am allowed for my 
own use, this is the money of the poor. As I ask 
for nothing but what is absolutely necessary for 
my support, you will not be surprised if I am so 
careful in what regards myself, and if my ex¬ 
penses go beyond what is simply necessary, that 
I am so distressed. But in what regards the 
poor, why should I grudge what is given to them? 
since it is their own that they receive, and I am 
obliged to assist them to the utmost of my 
power.” 

Some friends once persuaded him to make a 
lofty hall in his palace, telling him it would be a 
very great convenience and would cost little. He 
consented; but finding it a work of time, and 
that the expense far exceeded what he had been 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


179 


given to understand, he grieved so much as to bo 
almost inconsolable. One of his canons, named 
Ribeglies, wishing to speak to him on business, 
found him walking alone in the hall with the 
rosary in his hand and his face bathed in tears; 
and imagining that some misfortune had befallen 
him, begged to know what was the matter. 
“Have I not reason, Sir, to weep and mourn,” 
replied he, “ at having deprived the poor of so 
much money by this expense I have entered into? 
What can I say to my God when He calls me to 
an account for this? ” This wonderful care of the 
poor was the cause of his wearing his clothes in 
so shabby a state, having them so often repieced, 
and frequently even repiecing them with his 
own hands. One of his vicars, named James 
Cevrian, having once found him in his chamber 
mending his stockings, was so surprised that he 
exclaimed, “ My Lord, for eight or ten pence you 
might get this work done without giving yourself 
so much trouble.” “My child, you know not 
what you say,” replied he, “ for I find the greatest 
consolation and joy in this occupation, considering 
that these eight or ten pence which I save by 
this trifling work will be very useful to some poor 
man.” Another time, as all the doors of his 
house were open during the day, there entered a 
poor man with the design of begging something 
to help him to marry his daughter, but having 
watched him from afar mending his clothes, he 
conceived a contempt for him; and thinking he 
was mistaken in his intention of applying to him 
for relief, he was about to return without a word, 


180 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


when the Saint, who had noticed him, called to 
him to inquire the object of his coming there, 
and why he was going away without speaking to 
any one. “Do not be afraid,” said he, “to tell 
me boldly what it is which has discouraged you 
here.” “My Lord,” replied the man, “I have a 
daughter to marry, and I have nothing to give 
her, if your lordship does not take pity on her 
and me.” “Then,” replied the Saint, “you saw 
me mending my clothes, and you were going away 
without making your wishes known to me. This 
was not well. You must know that the very 
reason for my thus working with my own hands, 
is that I may save all that I can to give you, and 
all those who come to me in their sorrows as to 
their Father.” After having, according to his 
usual custom, informed himself of the character 
and circumstances of this poor man, he assisted 
him and his as he had requested. 

But to understand the pain and anxiety of 
mind he suffered when he had been induced to 
spend money upon any other object than the poor 
in his diocese, it will suffice to relate the motives 
which led him to found a college for a certain 
number of poor scholars in the university of 
Valeutia. The affection he bore to the university 
of Alcala, joined to the desire he had of doing 
something for the good of the religious of his 
order, induced him to begin building a college, of 
which he gave them the administration. This 
was in itself a pious and praiseworthy action, 
which could not be anything but laudable in the 
sight of God and man; it being a thing so just 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


181 


and natural in a religious raised to the prelacy, 
to remember liis order and his brethren when he 
could do so. Nevertheless he so much regretted 
the expense of this edifice, because it was beyond 
his jurisdiction, that thinking he had done a 
wrong to the poor of his diocese, he resolved to 
repair it in some fashion by building them ano¬ 
ther college at Valentia, where he placed some 
priests, and gave it the name of our Lady of the 
Temple, in honour and consideration of the fa¬ 
vour God had done him in calling him to religion 
on the day that the Blessed Virgin was presented 
in the Temple, and to show all religious, and 
especially those whom Divine Providence had 
raised to ecclesiastical dignities, how they should 
esteem their first vocation. 

It is proper here to mention the inscription 
the good prelate had placed on the front of 
this college, at the time he dedicated it to 
our Lady. “ To the honour and glory of the 
Blessed Virgin, and for the good and profit of 
all souls, but particularly those of this diocese; 
I, brother Thomas of Villanova, by the grace of 
God and the holy see, archbishop of Valentia, 
have built and founded in this city of Valentia, 
a college for poor scholars, under the title of 
the most Blessed Virgin Mary of the Temple, 
inasmuch as on the same day that she was pre¬ 
sented in the Temple, I was presented to receive 
the habit of our glorious Father S. Augustine, 
in the convent of Salamanca. And in memory 
of this signal benefit which I received from the 
liberal hand of our Lord, through the interces- 


182 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


sion of His Holy Mother, I have dedicated this 
temple to the most sacred Virgin, and I wish 
that every year the day of her presentation may 
be solemnly celebrated as a festival in the chapel 
of this college./’ 

The same feeling which led him to form this 
college under the name of the Blessed Virgin, 
induced him also to ornament and embellish his 
church with very rich and exquisite hangings 
of tapestry which he presented to the Cathedral, 
whereon the joyful mysteries of this Queen of 
Angels are admirably represented in silk; the 
beauty of the material being surpassed by the 
skill employed in the workmanship, so as al¬ 
most to exceed nature. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

OF THE MIRACLES WROUGHT BY OUR LORD IN THE DIS¬ 
TRIBUTION OF ALMS BY S. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

The Holy Spirit speaking of a rich man who 
has no attachment to riches, who values them as 
they deserve, and who while possessing them uses 
them as not his own, designates him as one who 
works miracles. “ Blessed is he who is rich, 
and can preserve the innocence of his heart in 
the possession of riches. But who is he, and 
where is he to be found ? Wherever he is, he 
deserves to be praised and to be canonised as 
one who does what is beyond the power and 
strength of nature.” It is Christians to whom 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


183 


God has entrusted temporal goods, that the Holy 
Spirit speaks of thus. They who by the rays 
of faith with which they are enlightened, use 
their wealth only as a means of acquiring vir¬ 
tue ; not in fomenting vice, and encouraging 
themselves in every degrading crime. To raise 
the dead, to give sight to the blind, and to cast 
out devils, are supernatural works, and pure and 
simple elfects of the goodness of God; yet with¬ 
out doubt our Lord sometimes employs the 
wicked and impious in performing these miracles. 
But to live poor, and like a poor man in the 
midst of the greatest abundance ; to possess 
riches of gold and silver, and yet to regard only 
those of eternity ; this is what can never be 
done, and is never seen without especial assist¬ 
ance from heaven, and a more particular grace 
from the Divine Goodness ; so that it is a more 
solid and certain pledge of a man’s holiness than 
if he could resuscitate the dead and work other 
miracles. 

After what has been said of the wonderful 
detachment of our saintly prelate from earthly 
riches, and of the use he made of them, which 
the Holy Spirit calls so great a miracle, it would 
seem scarcely necessary, in order to make his 
sanctity acknowledged by all, to mention those 
more striking and obvious miracles which our 
Lord enabled him to work. The multiplication 
of his revenue, which never amounted to a third 
part of what he annually distributed to the poor, 
was a continual miracle, and would seem suffi¬ 
cient to be mentioned ; yet there are so many 


184 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


individual cases well known and well attested, 
that to pass them by unnoticed would be inju¬ 
rious to this history, and deprive the reader of 
knowledge which he will not find useless. For 
these reasons, then, I will relate some of the 
most remarkable instances on record. 

The holy archbishop, whose principal concern 
was always the care of the poor, foreseeing 
one year shortly after harvest that there would 
be much suffering amongst them, on account of 
the poor crops, provided for it in time, and like 
a good father, to anticipate the evil, bought up 
from the farmers all the corn they could spare 
for a price which paid them so well they found 
no reason to complain. He ordered all the corn 
he had bought to be carried to the environs of 
Valentia, and for the more distant parishes he 
caused some to be distributed here and there in 
portions ready for the relief of the poor, of which 
he knew the number and the necessities. The 
granaries of his house, and even the hall, of which 
I have spoken before, were filled with the grain 
he had bought, and he ordered his steward to 
deliver a certain quantity every week to all the 
poor of the town, as also to those other needy per¬ 
sons whom he relieved secretly every month. His 
charity, which in this public distress had ample 
scope for exercise, had its eye upon all and 
provided for all, like another Joseph. Now as 
it was extremely difficult to conceal charity so 
general and extensive, several persons who until 
now had lived without assistance, but whom the 
times had brought to poverty, came to him like- 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


185 


wise to implore his mercy. Amongst others 
there came three poor widows, who for a long 
time had lived very comfortably, and ih the 
reputation of being rich and at their ease. But 
at length they were reduced to such distress, 
that they could no longer subsist without ma¬ 
king it known, and threw themselves at the feet 
of this charitable father, entreating him to have 
compassion on them and their poor children, 
and that he would be pleased to give them a 
small portion of corn, as he did to others. He 
immediately commanded they should be satisfied, 
upon which his steward told him they had fin¬ 
ished distributing all the corn which was in the 
house destined for the poor, which was not as¬ 
tonishing, seeing the great number who begged 
for it at every hour of the day, it being a thing 
impossible that it should last so long as he 
thought. 

The good prelate was greatly surprised at the 
answer of his steward. “No,” said he, “I can¬ 
not think it is as you say; go up and see if 
there does not remain a little to give these poor 
women.” His servants went merely to satisfy 
him, and returned assuring him that it was all 
gone, and that the place even had been swept. 
“It is not possible,” he still said; “I will go 
myself and see if it is so.” He went, followed 
by his servants and steward. “Open the door,” 
said he, “ I have so much confidence in the good¬ 
ness of God as to believe He will have pity on 
these poor women,” The door was opened, and 
the granary found to be filled with corn, not 


186 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


without great astonishment on the part of the 
steward and the two servants, who were bewilder¬ 
ed and almost terrified at the sight of so evident 
a miracle that God had wrought by the merits 
and in recompense of the faith of this charitable 
father. He caused a sack of corn to be given to 
each of these poor widows, and relieved the one 
who had nine children of three of her little ones, 
taking the charge of them himself. He endea¬ 
voured to comfort them all, and exhorted them to 
patience in their labours, and never to distrust 
Divine Providence. He recommended secrecy to 
all those who had seen this wonderful miracle; 
he even forbade them, in the name and on the 
part of our Lord, to say anything of it to any one. 
For some time the miracle was kept secret, even 
in Yalentia, but in course of time a confused 
account of it was spread abroad, and at length it 
became public and known to every one. Those 
who were the witnesses of it made juridical de¬ 
positions, and his confessor, Father James Mon- 
tiel, attested it; and the author, whose history I 
follow, preached soon afterwards on the subject, 
from the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, 
(it being the fourth Sunday of Lent,) with which 
the Son of God satisfied thdusands of persons, to 
show how the mercy of God appears in multiply¬ 
ing alms, when it pleases Him, in favour of the 
poor. 

It often happened that the cloth he bought for 
the poor multiplied in the hands of the persons 
engaged in making it up, so that in cutting it 
out more shirts and sheets were found, by a very 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


187 


considerable number, than the cloth could pos¬ 
sibly furnish, humanly speaking. Sometimes the 
linen was multiplied in the giving, it having often 
been seen by those who distributed it, that the 
poor received more than they had intended to 
give them. This miraculous multiplication was 
not confined to corn and linen, with which he fed 
and clothed the poor; his money also increased 
almost visibly in the distribution of his alms. 
As he was once journeying in the country, he 
commanded one of his servants, who was entrust¬ 
ed with a bag of money, to draw from it a certain 
sum that he wished to distribute among several 
poor people that he saw before him. “ My Lord,” 
said he, “ there is not much remaining; it has 
lasted a long time, considering how largely you 
give every hour of the day.” The servant, going 
to his mail to take the bag, which he knew had 
been more than half emptied, found it as full of 
money as when he received it on leaving Valentia. 
This prodigy so astonished him that he threw 
himself at the feet of the Saint, recognising in 
his person the power of Him who had just 
wrought this miracle by his merits. 

To conclude the account of this kind of mira¬ 
cles I will mention one more which is no less 
admirable. The good prelate was accustomed 
to send Bishop Cevrian and Dr. de la Porte, his 
visitor, to make the visitation of his diocese 
every year. That their efforts and labours might 
be more effectual and less interested, he forbade 
them to take anything whatever from the clergy, 
not even a repast, amply providing them with 


188 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


all that was required, that they might not be a 
charge to any one. Knowing also how much 
more efficacious spiritual charity is when accom¬ 
panied by temporal, he caused them to be follow¬ 
ed by a quantity of serge, linen, and clothes of 
all kinds, with a very considerable sum of money, 
to be distributed amongst the country poor, fur¬ 
nishing them even with crosses, chalices, and 
ornaments for the churches which had none, and 
which had not the means of procuring them. 
Upon their departure he exhorted them to carry 
their hearts and hands open, to give with joy 
and alacrity, and especially to new converts, to 
make them understand it was their souls, not 
their goods that they sought, and to remember 
that God is never sparing in His gifts to those 
who are liberal to Him. Our Lord, willing to 
show how agreeable such service is to Him, per¬ 
mitted the two visitors after having finished their 
visit at a place called Xavea, to go on to another. 
They were no sooner arrived there, than Dr. de la 
Porte, thinking to take some money from liis 
portmanteau to begin his almsgiving, was won¬ 
derfully surprised and distressed at not finding 
there the bag for the poor. He ransacked and 
turned over all his goods, but could find only the 
money for their own expenses, and not that for 
alms. 

He wrote to the curate of Xavea, and dis¬ 
patched a man in the night, praying him to see 
the landlord where they had lodged, but this 
proved to be useless; the man returned in the 
morning with the answer from the curate that 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


189 


nothing could be found in the inn. Being in the 
greatest affliction at the loss, they went to say 
mass with all the devotion possible, to recom¬ 
mend this affair to our Lord as His own. He 
heard their prayers. For being returned to the 
inn, and on the point of using the money allotted 
for their expenses to relieve the poor who had 
hastened to see them, resolving to borrow money 
on the promise of the prelate, with which they 
were furnished in writing, at the first place they 
could, what was their surprise and astonishment 
when they went to take the bag, to find there 
the one appropriated to the poor. What in¬ 
creased their joy and astonishment was, that 
they not only recovered all the money they had 
left, but also what they had taken from it to give 
away, the bag being so full that it seemed to 
have been squeezed and pressed to make it hold 
more. On their return to Valentia they related 
this incident to the Saint; but he, without show¬ 
ing any surprise, said smiling, that the same 
thing had often happened to him in almsgiving, 
our Lord multiplying money in favour of the 
poor, when after having done all that he could, 
there still remained many to be relieved. “Have 
then faith,” said he, “ enlarge your heart when 
you give to the poor, without fear of falling into 
want, because we have in heaven a great Master, 
and a most liberal Father of the poor, who will 
never fail to furnish us with something to give 
them, if we trust in Him, and treat them liber¬ 
ally, after His example.” 

When he had land that he wished to let out to 


190 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


farm, though he put it up to a public auction, 
where every one was at liberty to name any sum 
he pleased, he was still desirous it should not 
fetch a price above its value and the strict rule 
of equity. Hearing one day that two merchants 
piqued themselves on being the highest bidders 
for some of his land, and of having raised the 
price of it to their own disadvantage, he sent to 
tell them to put a stop to it. When any loss 
happened to any of his farmers, he never expect¬ 
ed them to make it good, but always requited 
them for it, though in justice he was not called 
upon to do so. Sometimes, to prevent their de¬ 
ceiving him and abusing his goodness, he ascer¬ 
tained the truth of the facts. It once happened 
that a certain cavalier of Alzira, who had rented 
his tithes of the same land of Alzira, not having 
the means of paying at the time fixed, from some 
misfortune which had befallen him, permitted 
himself to be summoned by the archbishop’s offi¬ 
cers, which also caused some expense, as he did 
not answer the summons. At length, finding 
himself pressed on all sides, and not knowing 
how to hide himself from the threatened storm, 
he was obliged to have recourse to the compas¬ 
sion of the good prelate, not having the courage 
to disclose his distress before, for fear of losing 
the high character he had acquired of being a 
good paymaster. He then came humbly to rep¬ 
resent to him the sad state of his affairs, begging 
him to order that a stop should be put to his 
pursuit, promising him that he would acquit him¬ 
self of the debt if he would be pleased to grant 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


191 


him a short delay. “Take care,” replied the 
Saint, “that what you say is true, for I shall 
make inquiries about it.” Having ascertained 
that what this poor cavalier had told him was 
perfectly true, he sent for him and said, “ God 
forgive you; why did you not have recourse to 
me when first this debt was demanded of you, 
and tell me how you were inconvenienced? How¬ 
ever, be not troubled. I not only grant you the 
time you ask, which is little, but I declare that 
I will not take a single penny from the farm. I 
release you from payment for the whole year, 
because I see that you are poor, and in that 
capacity I have no claim upon you. The money 
I now give you is not mine, it belongs to the 
poor.” 


CHAPTER XV. 

OF THE DEATH OF S. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

S. Thomas passed eleven years thus in the 
exercise of every virtue, with all possible zeal 
and affection, labouring to procure the glory of 
God, the reform of His Church, the salvation of 
souls, and the relief of the poor, until the year 
1555, which Divine Providence had fixed upon as 
that which should end his labours, and recom¬ 
pense his merits, and put him in the possession 
of a happiness which, as he said, in an apparition 
which is well authenticated, “ the whole world 
could neither understand nor be able to bestow.” 
The death of a saint and of a great and good 


192 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


man is generally looked upon by his country as 
the presage of some approaching calamity; and 
as a labourer who sees the air become thick and 
dark hastens to gather in his corn, to shelter it 
from the threatened tempest, so our Blessed 
Lord, who watches over His elect, draws them to 
Himself from among those He is about to chastise 
for their crimes, that the innocent may not share 
the punishment of the guilty, calling them by 
His pure mercy from this mortal and perishable 
life to that of an ever blessed eternity. It is this 
which makes wise men, who are aware of what 
the public lose by the death of a saint, regret and 
deplore it, as Elisha mourned the carrying up 
into heaven of the holy prophet Elijah, because 
of the fatal consequences they foresee will ensue. 
By his departure they find themselves deprived 
of the blessing of his presence, which served 
them as a shield and buckler to defend and pro¬ 
tect them against the arrows of Divine vengeance 
justly excited. 

The death of a friend of God is, then, a sign 
of some great scourge from heaven to punish the 
sins of men. Such was that of our holy arch¬ 
bishop of the town and kingdom of Yalentia, 
since having died in the end of the year 1555, 
his diocese was nearly perishing from a famine 
in 1556, which was the forerunner of a horrible 
pestilence that caused such ravages the following 
years of 1557 and 1558, that there scarcely re¬ 
mained any among the living to bury the dead. 

On the 29th of August he fell sick of a quinsey, 
brought on by his continual watchings and study, 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


193 


accompanied by a pain in the chest, which began 
to trouble him as soon as he became archbishop, 
from the little repose he allowed himself. For, 
to satisfy himself in the discharge of his duty, 
which occupied him nearly all the day, and to 
keep up his practice of mental prayer, and his 
other spiritual exercises, he was constrained to 
employ the greater part of the night, and to de¬ 
prive himself of necessary sleep. He had said 
mass the day before with very great devotion to 
S. Augustine, whose feast it was, having always 
borne a singular respect to the name and mem¬ 
ory of that illustrious father, it ever being his 
glory and delight to remember he was one of his 
children. The weakness which suddenly seized 
him after saying his office, made him know that 
the time of his departure was approaching; and 
he could not refrain from showing the joy this 
anticipation gave him, as if he had received some 
special favour from the hand of Almighty God. 
Then judging by the fever, which increased, that 
he should not rally, he made a general confession, 
placing himself in the hands of our Blessed Re¬ 
deemer, entreating Him, with the most humble 
and entire resignation, to dispose of his life and 
death according to His good pleasure. 

The Monday following, which was the 2nd of 
September, he earnestly desired to receive the 
blessed Sacrament, which was solemnly brought 
him in procession for the example and edification 
of the people. The blessed Sacrament was also 
exposed in all the churches, with the forty hours 
prayer, in which every one joined for the benefit 
14 


194 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


of their good bishop, and communicated with a 
more than common devotion from the hands of 
bishop Cevrian. The canons, religious, the 
greater part of his clergy, and as many persons 
as could enter his chamber, were bathed in 
tears, fearing they were going to lose their dear 
father and pastor, whom they so loved, and by 
whom their affection was so tenderly returned. 
On the Thursday, three days before the Nativity 
of the Blessed Virgin, the physicians having 
pronounced him to be slightly amended, all the 
city, fluctuating between fear and hope, breath¬ 
ed freely once more at this happy news. How¬ 
ever, as the Saint felt himself more oppressed 
than he had yet done, and as it is also very 
possible that our Lord then revealed to him the 
hour of his death, which it is certain He did 
before it arrived, he caused five thousand ducats 
which he kept in the sacristy of the Cupola, to 
be brought to him, and placed them in the hands 
of bishop Cevrian, of the canon Michael Vigue, 
of Father Peter of Salamanca, religious of the 
order of S. Dominic, and of his almoner and trea¬ 
surer. “You know the affection you ought to 
have for me,” said he, “and I doubt not that 
you will willingly do me a good service. Here 
is an occasion which presents itself. Do me the 
favour to go over all the parishes of the city 
on every side, and distribute all this money to 
the poor, each one according to his wants. Have 
care also for the persons of quality who are in 
distress. But I entreat you in the name of 
God, do not bring a single penny back into my 


ST. TTI0MA3 OP VILLA50VA. 


195 


house, for that would grieve me. If you cannot 
dispose of all to-day, finish to-morrow.” They 
employed the whole of the next two day 3 in see¬ 
ing and visiting all the poor families they could 
find, giving large alm3 to those who were in 
debt, or to those who had daughters, to some 
a hundred ducat3, to others fifty or sixty, and 
to none les3 than four ducats. 

These two day3 were not sufficient to empty 
their purse. The Saint inquired on their re¬ 
turn if all had been disposed of; and on their 
answering that they had still twelve hundred 
ducats, though they had relieved all the poor 
in Valentia that they could discover, he ex¬ 
claimed with great feeling, u O, miserable sin¬ 
ner that I am, must thi3 money remain this 
night in my house! go seek some other poor 
though it is late, and if you cannot succeed, 
carry it to the hospital Do me this favour I 
beseech you.” They told him that what re¬ 
mained would be very serviceable in paying the 
nurses, and for the support of the poor orphans 
who would be in danger of suffering much, in 
case it should please God to call him to Him¬ 
self. “ I have provided for them for three years,” 
replied he, “so pray, gentlemen, give me this 
consolation, and go immediately and distribute 
the money amongst the poor.” Returning to 
‘see him the next morning, which was the Vigil 
of the Nativity of our Lady, they told him they 
had given alL “ My friends,” said he, “ I pray 
God with all my heart, to bless and comfort you, 
for having thus comforted me by what you tell 


196 


ST. THOMAS OF YILLANOVA. 


me.” Then turning his eyes towards his cru¬ 
cifix, which he had used in the conversion of 
so many sinners, they saw him weep for joy, 
thanking our Lord for granting him the favour 
to die poor as he had desired. His peace of 
mind was a little disturbed shortly after by his 
treasurer, who came to tell him that he had 
that day received some money, and to mention 
that his furniture was still in the house. But 
the Saint would not lose the merit of the poverty 
he loved so much, but commanded the money 
to be divided amongst his servants, and as to his 
furniture, he caused it all to be taken to the 
college of poor students to whom he had left 
it by will, excepting the bed on which he lay, 
which he gave to the keeper of the prisons, beg¬ 
ging him to lend it him, for the short remainder 
of his life, that he might be able to die absolutely 
despoiled of every thing. 

The pain which he felt was violent, yet he 
suffered without complaint; his countenance was 
always calm, and he preserved his judgment to 
the last, perfect and entire. Notwithstanding all 
his pain and weakness, he received those who 
came to visit him with the same gentleness and 
affability which he displayed when in full health, 
and permitted none to leave his presence without 
exciting them to the love and fear of God and 
care for their salvation by some passage from 
Scripture, judiciously selected according to the 
disposition and state of each of their souls. 
Several of them returned as much touched with 
what they had seen and heard, as if an angel 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


197 


had spoken to them rather than a man. The 
canons who had learnt from the physcians, that 
according to the natural course of the malady, 
he could not last long, went to beg him to allow 
them the honour of giving him a place of sepul¬ 
ture in their church; he received their offer 
thankfully, and testified all the gratitude possible, 
but said to Don Jerome Cartos, who was on his 
knees before him delivering their message, that 
he felt extremely obliged to their body, for the 
favour done him on this occasion, but humbly 
begged them to consider that he was a religious, 
and as such he had thought it best to choose his 
burial place among his brethren of our Lady of 
Succours, and called upon them, in the name of 
God, not after his death to prevent his last wish 
from being attended to. Upon this, not to dis¬ 
tress him, they dropped the subject, intending 
to resume it on a more fitting opportunity. 

On Saturday evening, the Vigil of our Lady, 
after having entertained himself some time alone 
with his God, he caused Extreme Unction to be 
administered to him, and received this Sacra¬ 
ment with sentiments of devotion which excited 
the admiration of those who assisted, making the 
responses himself with the other ecclesiastics, 
and reciting the verses and the prayers which the 
Church is accustomed to use in this holy min¬ 
istry. That being concluded, the canons, not re¬ 
pulsed by his refusal, threw themselves a second 
time on their knees, renewing their request touch¬ 
ing his sepulture. But he returned the same 
answer; that he was a religious, and that he did 


198 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


not desire to be separated from liis brethren, 
either in life or death; adding, that if our Lord 
in His goodness, and without regarding his offen¬ 
ces, deigned to show him mercy, he would endea¬ 
vour to prove his gratitude for this last mark of 
their affection, by interceding for them in His 
presence. 

The next morning (the Nativity of our Lady) 
he prayed his suffragan to dress quickly an altar 
in his chamber, and to prepare himself to say 
mass there. “For,” said he, “as there remain 
for me only a few moments of existence, I wish 
not to leave this world without once more seeing 
my Saviour in this holy sacrifice. When the 
priest came to the Sanctus, they raised his head 
a little, and at the consecration he adored the 
blessed Sacrament with so much tenderness, and 
so many tears flowed from his eyes that no one 
who was present could prevent doing the same. 
Immediately after the elevation he began the 
Psalm, “In te Domine speravi,” which he con¬ 
tinued with tears until the verse, “In manus 
tuas,” and when the priest finished his commu¬ 
nion, he at the same instant finished the course 
of his holy life, and gave up his soul into the 
hands of his Creator. All the assistants remark¬ 
ed in his last moments, that the nearer his end 
approached, the more beautiful, serene, and shi¬ 
ning his countenance became. 

His death, which was known immediately in 
the city, caused so much grief and dismay, that 
from the cries and lamentations which were 
heard on every side, it would have been supposed 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


199 


that each ono had lost his own father. Every 
church in Valentia was hung with black. Every 
one appeared in an extreme affliction and de¬ 
pression of spirit for the loss they had sustained, 
whilst the holy body was being prepared for the 
funeral ceremonies. He was clothed in his black 
habit instead of the white which he had worn 
during his illness. They then put on his pontifi¬ 
cals, the cross, the mitre, and the pallium, and 
everything appertaining to an archbishop. The 
moment after his death, the palace had been so 
besieged by people wishing to enter, that to 
prevent confusion it had been found necessary 
to close the doors until bishop Cevrian and the 
heads of the chapter had dressed him themselves, 
and carried and laid him in the great hall where 
he was accustomed to give alms and comfort the 
poor, watering his hands and his face with their 
tears which they could not restrain. But no 
sooner was there a free entry than every one 
crowded in, each thinking himself happy if he 
could see him and kiss his hands, but especially 
the poor, who, according to bishop Panfile’s ac¬ 
count, amounted to eight thousand. The Divine 
goodness permitted it should be thus for the 
honour of the Saint, whom they regretted as 
their father and chief consolation. 

The chapter, magistrates, nobility, the parishes, 
• and all the orders of the city followed the body 
from the archiepiscopal palace to the cathedral, 
and from the cathedral to the monastery of our 
Lady of Succours, where he was to be interred. 
But of all the means taken to show him honour 


200 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


in his funeral obsequies, there was nothing which 
proved so clearly the veneration in which he was 
held, as the deep feeling of sorrow testified by all 
present. In place of chanting and reciting the 
prayers ordered by the Church in such cases, 
nothing was heard but weeping and groaning. 
The priests, religious, and all the people, having 
their hearts so oppressed with grief that they 
could utter no other sounds but those of mourn¬ 
ing and lamentation; whilst the poor on their 
parts filled the air with their cries and groans. 
“What shall we do, what will become of us,” said 
they, “without our good father!” Thus this sad 
and mournful procession went on till it arrived 
at our Lady of Succours, where his sacred body 
was solemnly interred in the most honourable 
place in the church, notwithstanding the Saint 
had expressed a wish to be buried in all respects 
like his brethren. 

As he had left nothing to defray the expense 
of any monument to his memory, having disposed 
of everything in favour of the poor, without 
caring to leave his name written on earth, our 
Lord who had written it in heaven, to honour it 
also on earth, inspired one of his canons, Francis 
Bocca, who during his life had always considered 
him as a Saint and a great servant of God, after 
his death to erect a rich tomb of marble with his 
figure in pontificals in relief. As also to engrave 
this epitaph, to descend to posterity as a memo¬ 
rial of his extreme charity towards the poor: 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOYA. 


201 


“ Conditur hoc tumulo D. Frater Thomas de 
Villanova Archiepiscopus Valentinus, Diyini verbi 
Proedicator eximus: Qui Christi pauperes, benigna 
quidem manu, non solum viyens fovit; sed ad 
extremum usque spiritum amplissimis Eleemosi- 
nis est prosequutus. Obiet autem die Nativitatis 
sanctissima Virginis Marise, anno M. D. LV.” 

In like manner he inspired the bishop of Sego¬ 
via, formerly disciple and religious of St. Thomas, 
to put his writings in order, especially his 
Sermons and Commentaries upon the Canticles, 
and to have them printed under the name of the 
author, who in the schools of Spain is always 
designated the Seraphic Doctor, to distinguish 
him from St. Thomas Aquino the Angelic Doctor. 
One of his admirers has given us reason to hope 
that the first leisure time he can obtain shall be 
employed in revising his works, to correct them 
of the numerous errors which have crept into the 
German edition, and in a new dress to render 
them more common in France. 

It is of faith to believe that the charity of the 
saints and servants of God towards their friends 
is nothing lessened by their death. And as St. 
Peter promised the faithful in his second epistle 
to remember them before God after his decease, 
that by his care and prayers the doctrine which 
, he had taught them should not be effaced from 
their memory, so they lose not the affection for 
those with whom they have contracted a friend¬ 
ship upon earth, but it is rather increased in 
heaven, where they pray for them and procure 


202 


ST. TIIOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


them every possible favour with so much the 
more zeal and affection, as in a state of glory 
their charity is more pure and perfect. 

S. Thomas of Villanova, who wished to end his 
life as he had so long occupied it, in assisting all 
men, promised some of his friends in particular 
to remember them after his death. That they 
might be confirmed in their opinion of his holi¬ 
ness and merits, our Lord permitted him to 
appear to them after his death, radiant with 
light and glory. I will relate some amongst 
many of these remarkable appearances. 

The respect and devotion which the chapter 
bore to his memory, induced the canons, who by 
his death became possessed of the power to alter 
many things in the government of their church, 
to content themselves with simply electing a 
grand vicar, till the see was filled. Through 
respect and love for their venerated prelate, they 
permitted the order he had appointed, and all his 
officers, to remain as he had established them, 
and bishop Cevrian and Dr. de la Porte only left 
the palace when they heard that Don Francis of 
Navarre was named archbishop. They then took 
for their residence the great house of the arch¬ 
deacon, near the cathedral. On the evening they 
arrived, all their discourse after supper turned 
upon the virtues and conduct of their charitable 
pastor, of the loss sustained by the city and king¬ 
dom of Valentia, and especially by the poor, who 
seemed in him to have lost a good and merciful 
father. 

They then retired to their chambers, their 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


203 


tears flowing plentifully at the remembrance of 
all his goodness. Dr. de la Porte, who, filled 
with grief and sadness, had continued watching 
till two hours after midnight, perceived at that 
time, in the midst of a beautiful and resplendent 
light, the blessed S. Thomas approach the bed 
with a countenance full of majesty and reverence, 
and dressed in his Augustinian habit as he usual¬ 
ly wore it during his life. “Why do you weep 
for me?” said he ; “weep for me no longer if you 
love me, since I enjoy a repose and happiness 
that the whole united world has not the power to 
bestow.” Having said this he vanished from his 
eyes with the light which surrounded him, leaving 
his devotee with mingled feelings of holy joy and 
admiration, scarcely knowing whether he ought to 
consider this as a true appearance of the Saint, 
or an illusion of the enemy. Yet he was won¬ 
derfully consoled in his inmost heart, and as soon 
as it was day repaired to the chamber of the 
bishop, who seeing the joy and astonishment 
depicted in his countenance suspected what had 
happened to him. “What is the news?” said the 
good prelate to him, “ is it possible that you have 
seen our good father?” “How, my lord,” replied 
he, “have you also seen him yourself? I have 
indeed seen him, and I came here with the inten¬ 
tion of telling you all that passed. In the name 
of God tell mo what happened to you.” Upon 
comparing, they found that the Saint had ap¬ 
peared to them both the same hour, in the same 
habit, with the same splendour, and that he had 
rejoiced and comforted their hearts with the 


204 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


same words. Having well examined and consi¬ 
dered tlie subject together, there remained not 
the least doubt upon their minds that it was a 
real and true apparition with which the Saint 
had deigned to honour them. 

Another apparition, which will be the last I 
shall relate, that I may enter at once upon his 
miracles, will be an illustrious example of his 
charity and love for the poor ; since in the midst 
of his enjoyment in glory he remembered them, 
and continued his care over them in their suf¬ 
ferings. The Saint finding himself on the bed 
of death in his last illness, and desiring to dis¬ 
pose of whatever remained in his possession in 
favour of the poor, had summoned his tenants to 
know to what amount each was indebted to him, 
and to draw from them a promise to pay it at 
a certain time, that the whole might be distri¬ 
buted to the poor according to his last will and 
the apostolic brief which he had obtained to be 
used for that purpose. Then addressing him¬ 
self to a certain citizen whom he had always 
thought his friend, and a man of perfect pro¬ 
bity, “ You are witness,” said he, “ to the pro¬ 
mises of my tenants, by which the greater num¬ 
ber oblige themselves to pay me at Christmas 
and the rest at Easter. I believe they will do 
so, but if they fail keep them to their word, I 
confide these notes to you, and entreat you for 
the love of God, as soon as you shall have re¬ 
ceived the money to distribute it amongst the 
poor, and comfort them in their misery at the 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 205 

beginning of the year. And may God in return 
bless you and make you happy.’’ 

Ilis friend promised him faithfully all that ho 
asked; but no sooner was the Saint laid in tlio 
grave, and the fear of his ever becoming ac¬ 
quainted with his perfidy at an end, than after 
having received the money which was due with 
much care and exactness, he distributed only 
a part of it amongst the poor, and used the rest 
in furthering his own affairs, though with the 
intention of restoring it when it should be con¬ 
venient to him. S. Thomas appeared to him 
the night of the Epiphany, and with a voice ani¬ 
mated with anger and a just resentment, said 
to him, “ How ! faithless that you are, is it thus 
you deceive me ? How long have you lost your 
honour and stifled your conscience ? I should 
never have thought this of you ; nor would it 
ever have entered my mind to believe that you 
would have been so little conscientious as to prefer 
your own interest to that of the poor, and to 
assist yourself by leaving them in distress. What 
you have done is a fault for which God will not 
fail to punish you, unless you prevent it by a 
timely penitence ; because the tears which the 
miserable have shed, are living words which 
penetrate the heavens, demanding justice of God 
for your sins.” At these words the man was 
seized with horror, and quite beside himself at 
such a reprimand. He protested he would fulfil 
his promise to the letter, and entreated the Saint 
in the name of God to implore the divine mercy 
for him. 


206 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


The next day he returned a part of the money, 
but still not the whole, being unwilling to in¬ 
convenience himself, or disarrange his affairs. 
The Saint again visited him on the night of the 
Purification, and with words much more harsh 
and severe, called him a liar and a man without 
faith; he threatened him with sudden death, and 
told him that God would never have mercy on 
him, since he disdained to show it to the poor 
who were his members. “ You imagine,” said 
he, “ that I am dead. No, no, I live a life in¬ 
finitely better than that which I lived when you 
pledged your word to me.” Then turning to¬ 
wards a boy who followed him with a discipline 
in his hand, “Strike, strike this man,” said he, 
“ that he may remember his duty, and that he 
may obtain a wholesome spirit of fear.” The 
boy obeyed, and disciplined him till the Saint 
told him to desist. “ Lose not the remembrance 
of this warning,” said he, “ profit by this pun¬ 
ishment; it is far less than you have deserved.’’ 

It was scarcely day, when the man, astonished 
beyond expression, called for the archbishop’s 
almoner, not being able to rise from the bed 
himself, on account of his wounds, and relating 
to him what had passed, placed in his hands all 
the money he had in the house ; and as more 
was necessary, he borrowed of his friends, that 
he might not remain indebted to a creditor so 
exact and punctual as the Saint. He published 
everywhere the glory enjoyed by the Saint, and 
the zeal he continued to have for the poor as 
well in heaven as when on earth ; like the holy 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


207 


patriarch Abraham, who after having passed the 
best part of his life in works of mercy and hospi¬ 
tality, even after his death lodges the poor La¬ 
zarus in his bosom. 

May it please God of his infinite goodness so 
to dispose the hearts and desires of each one 
of us, that we may profit from the example this 
holy prelate has left us of his virtues ; that fol¬ 
lowing his footsteps, and aspiring to attain his 
humility, meekness, recollection, charity, and 
mercy; we may labour for the glory of our 
heavenly Father and the good of our brethren ; 
that our end may be as happy as his ; and that 
with him we may eternally enjoy the repose and 
immortal felicity which he now enjoys and will 
for ever enjoy throughout all ages! 


208 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


ABRIDGMENT 

OF THE 

MIRACLES OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 

RELIGIOUS OF THE ORDER OF ST. AUGUSTINE, 

AND ARCHBISHOP OF VALENTI A. 

TAKEN FROM THE PROCESSES OF HIS CANONIZATION. 

Though it may seem, after the recital which 
has been made of the virtues and merits of 
S. Thomas of Yillanova, that here the discourse 
might end, and that it could not extend farther 
than his death and burial, without going beyond 
the bounds of history ; nevertheless, as my de¬ 
sign in writing his Life was no other than to 
make known his holiness by the relation of his 
virtuous actions, and as the miracles performed 
by God in his favour and by his suffrages are 
also proofs of his sanctity, though not so con¬ 
vincing as his charity and good works; it is well 
I should relate some out of that prodigious num¬ 
ber of miracles with which our Lord honoured 
his name and memory, especially a part of those 
which were verified and approved with all the 
solemnities required in such cases for proceeding 
to liis canonization; knowing that in the question 
of miracles it is better rather to regard their 
nature than their numbers. 

After one word, then, on the miraculous incor¬ 
ruption of his body, not to weary the reader, it 


ST. TIIOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


209 


will suffice to relate those only which were last 
exposed at Rome on the day of his canonization, 
in pictures suspended from the ceiling of S. 
Peter’s, with an inscription at the foot of each. 

INCORRUPTION OF THE BODY OF S. TIIOMAS OF 
YILLANOVA. 

In the year 1588, twenty-three years after the 
death of S. Thomas, the devotion of the peoplo 
at his tomb increased daily, from the continual 
miracles which God performed for the benefit of 
those who had recourse to his merits and suf¬ 
frages. 

A canon of the cathedral, Don John Baptist 
Vivas, who revered him much, resolved to give 
him fresh proofs of his devotion and remembrance 
by providing, at his own expense, a silver lamp 
of great value, and a railing of bronze richly 
worked to inclose his tomb, which until then had 
remained open to the church. To lay down this 
railing it was necessary to raise the tomb and 
the marble figure upon it, and to dig the earth 
around it. While this was being done there 
issued from the tomb an odour so sweet and 
agreeable, that in the judgment of some per¬ 
fumers who were present, there was nothing to 
be compared to it, either amongst the most ex¬ 
cellent perfumes, or flowers the most rare and 
exquisite. 

In this exhalation there was a something di¬ 
vine and inexpressible, which elevated the mind 
and feelings beyond what was natural. All 
judged unanimously that this odour came from 
15 


210 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 


heaven, since there was nothing to he found like 
it upon earth, and that God, through His good¬ 
ness and justice, began to make this holy body 
enjoy, in some sort, the happiness that the soul 
which had animated it already possessed. 

But when, upon seeing and touching him, it was 
found that his body was still entire, and almost 
as fresh as when they laid him there, not even 
his habit being decayed or corrupted, there was 
a universal cry of joy and admiration at the won¬ 
derful spectacle; and they blessed the infinite 
power of Him who had done this for the glory of 
His faithful servant and Saint. Everything was 
afterwards carefully examined, and upon its being 
verified that what was seen could not be the 
effect either of art or nature, but proceeded from 
the Author of nature Himself, who when He 
pleases renders Himself admirable in His saints, 
a deposition was drawn up in due form, which 
was produced thirty years afterwards, in the year 
1618, with several other testimonies to his sanc¬ 
tity, and laid before Pius V., who in the same 
year declared him blessed, permitting the reli¬ 
gious of the order of S. Augustine, of the king¬ 
doms of Castile, Arragon, Valentia, and Catalo¬ 
nia, to revere his memory, and celebrate his 
feast on the 18th of September. 

Soon afterwards Gregory XV., successor of 
Pius V., desirous that this celestial light should 
be raised higher to spread its rays far and wide, 
to the glory of God and the exaltation of the 
holy Church, granted by a benignant extension 
of his favours, that the festival should be kept 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


211 


universally in all the houses of the order, with 
a double office, which was continued till the 
pontificate of Alexander VII,, whom God had 
destined to complete the work of his canoniza¬ 
tion. This pontiff held him up to public ven¬ 
eration by the declaration which he made in 
the year 1658, accompanied with that splendour 
which the pious reader, who wishes to satisfy his 
curiosity, will find described in the account which 
is printed of the holy and august ceremonies of 
his canonization. 


MIRACLE I. 

MULTIPLICATION OF CORN IN FAVOUR OF THE POOR. 

The first of these miracles was that which 
S. Thomas wrought to relieve a poor widow who 
had several children, whom she was unable to 
support unless assisted by his charity. She went 
to pour into his fatherly ear all her cares and 
distresses, and the state of destitution to which 
she was reduced, and entreated him to bestow 
on her a bushel of corn, to save her children from 
feeling the pangs of hunger. Her request was 
granted instantly; but to the faith of the Saint 
was reserved the execution of it. He commanded 
his servants to provide her with the quantity of 
corn she desired, but received for answer, that it 
was all gone, and that the granary had even 
been swept. He could not credit the account, 
and insisted on their going to see if there was not 
a little still left. They went, merely to satisfy 



212 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


liim, and returned assuring him that there was 
none left. In this there was nothing astonishing, 
considering the number that were daily and 
hourly relieved, as the servants were strictly 
enjoined never to send any one away empty 
handed. But his charity, which was the cause 
of his granary being so soon emptied, joined to 
his faith in the mercy of God, made him go him¬ 
self, saying, that he could not believe that our 
Lord would abandon him in this strait, when he 
was endeavouring to relieve Him in the person of 
this poor widow. He found his confidence was 
not misplaced, for on his arrival the granary 
was found to be full of corn, so that he could say, 
like the rich man in the Gospel, though in a very 
different sense, “ I must pull down my barns,” 
being scarcely able to open the door, so pressed 
was it by the quantity of corn within. The poor 
widow received two sacks, whilst the servants, 
who a moment before had seen the place empty, 
were altogether astonished, and scarcely knew 
what to say or think in so extraordinary a case. 
This miracle seemed in one respect greater than 
that which the prophet Elijah performed for 
another widow, since the prophet only multiplied 
meal, while our Saint caused corn to exist where 
there was none before, by the power of his faith 
and word, as if God had communicated to him 
his absolute power of creating. The inscription 
to this miracle, on the picture at S. Peter’s at 
Rome, was as follows: 

“ Horreum frumento prorsus vacuum Sancti 
Thomce nutu plenum repente invenitur ad pau- 
pores sublevandos.” 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


213 


MIRACLE II. 

S. THOMAS WITH THE SIGN OF THE CROSS CURES A 
LAME AND PARALYTIC MAN. 

Another miracle which proves, no less than 
the preceding, the great merits of S. Thomas, 
and how powerful he was with God, was that of 
the cure of a poor man who was both lame and 
paralytic. One day, as the good prelate looked 
from his chamber into the court where alms were 
given, he perceived a man who walked with 
crutches, having lost the use of his limbs, who, 
after receiving an alms on one side, went over to 
the other to obtain a second. S. Thomas called 
him, and asked him if he had not already receiv¬ 
ed an alms. The man acknowledged that he had. 
“How comes it, then,” said the Saint, “that you 
try to get another?” “It is true, my Lord,” 
replied the poor man, “ that what I have receiv¬ 
ed is quite enough for myself, but it is not much 
when divided into four, for I have a wife and two 
children, who are not able to come and obtain 
anything for themselves.” “It is not enough, 
certainly,” said the Saint. “Now tell me, which 
would you prefer—that your health should bo 
restored, or that I should order them to givo 
you four alms every day?” “Please God, my 
Lord,” he replied, “I should prefer recovering 
my health; for I assure you that if I could work 
I would rather do so than beg for the support of 


214 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


my family.” “Now then,” said the Saint, “have 
a great faith and confidence in Godand rais¬ 
ing him upright, he gave him his blessing and 
perfect health at the same time ; recommending 
him to return thanks to Almighty God for what 
he had just done. The poor man quitted his 
crutches upon the spot, walked without pain, and 
as perfectly well as if he had never been afflicted 
with any disease. This miracle is very similar 
to that which S. Peter performed on the lame 
man cured at the gate of the Temple, excepting 
that the holy apostle excused himself from grant¬ 
ing any other aid than that of health, saying that 
he had neither gold nor silver to bestow, whilst 
S. Thomas, who had both for the poor, gave some 
to this poor man, as well as his restoration to 
health. This happened the year before the death 
of the holy prelate. The inscription of this 
miracle was as follows:— 

“Claudus itemque paralyticus a Sancto Thoma 
crucis signo liberatur.” 


MIRACLE III. 

A DEAD CHILD BY THE MERITS OF S. THOMAS OF 
VILLANOVA RAISED TO LIFE AT HIS TOMB. 

One of the children of Augustine Assenti, wi¬ 
dow of Gabriel Cardonne, a citizen of Valentia, 
named Francis Paul, had been afflicted for seven 
months with a malignant fever, no physician 
having been able to do him the least good. At 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


215 


length, after much suffering and being reduced 
to a state of extreme weakness, he died. The 
poor mother was quite inconsolable at his loss, 
and her grief was increased by the regret she 
felt at not having taken him during his long 
illness to the tomb of S. Thomas. Yet not losing 
all liopo in his mediation, though they were 
about to lay her son in the grave, she took him 
in her arms to our Lady of Succours, and laying 
him on the tomb of S. Thomas, prayed him 
with many tears to assist her in this extremity. 
Scarcely had she prayed for the space of three 
Paters and three Ave Marias than the child raised 
his head, and held out his arms to his mother, 
who embraced him with a joy which could be more 
easily imagined than expressed in words. She 
returned her grateful and humble thanks to our 
Lord and S. Thomas, whom she ever afterwards 
honoured as her patron and holy benefactor. 
The child, who had attained the age of seven¬ 
teen months, recovered from his first death to 
die again in his fourth year. This miracle had 
these following words for the inscription: 

“Puer, adolescens XVII., mensuun Matre ad 
sepulchrum Sancti Thonue precante reviviscit.” 


MIRACLE IV. 

A GIRL SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE ALSO RESUSCITATED 
AT THE TOMB OF S. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

In the year 1604, a woman of Valentia, named 
Esperance Crespo, widow of Anthony Fabia, was 



21G 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


in the deepest sorrow at the state of her daugh¬ 
ter’s health, whose life was despaired of by the 
physicians, and whose death was only delayed 
from day to day by the tender and watchful care 
of her mother. At length she expired, and the 
poor woman closed her eyes, watering them with 
the tears which fell from her own. After the 
body had been kept some time, and they were 
upon the point of consigning it to the grave, 
the thought came into the mother’s mind, that 
she would have recourse to the prayers of S. 
Thomas of Yillanova, whom she particularly ven¬ 
erated, and have her carried to his tomb. She 
followed her poor child’s body, and cold as it 
lay in the arms of death, made with great faith 
this prayer : “ Blessed father, I beseech you to 
pray to God for me, that it will please Him to 
grant me the life of my daughter, for I have a 
great confidence in you, and I firmly believe that 
you are a Saint in heaven.” This short prayer 
was no sooner made than the girl began to move 
and to show all the signs of life and perfect 
health. Every one present was struck with as¬ 
tonishment, whilst the mother, who had obtained 
what she so ardently desired, praised and 
thanked the goodness of God, who had favour¬ 
ably heard her prayers through the merits of S. 
Thomas of Yillanova. This was the inscription 
of the fourth miracle : 

“Virgo XVI., annorum, cum prope esset ut con- 
deretur, ad vitam a S. Tlioma, flagitante Matre 
revocatur.” 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


217 


MIRACLE V. 

A BLIND GIRL RECEIVED HER SIGHT AT THE TOMB 
OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

This miracle, so much the more worthy of the 
Saint’s compassion, the subject of it being of so 
tender an age, was wrought on a little creature 
named Marcella, daughter of Anthony Mathieu, 
Doctor of Laws, who from the age of three years 
had suffered from a disease of the stomach, which 
caused her to vomit blood from her mouth, and 
to return whatever nourishment was given her. 
Three months she continued in this state, noth¬ 
ing that was done for her seeming to give her any 
relief. The disease increased, so that at times 
she was almost suffocated, and at length her eyes 
were affected, and she entirely lost her sight. 
Some time afterwards, her mother, who was 
deeply afflicted at her state, going to make her 
devotions at the tomb of St. Thomas, determined 
to take her child with her ; and laying her little 
hands upon the tomb whilst she knelt by her 
side, she humbly invoked the assistance of the 
Saint for her. Then leaving the church, she 
gave some money to the sacristan that mass 
might be said for that intention. It is most 
remarkable, that at nine o’clock the next morn¬ 
ing, the very hour when the holy sacrifice was 
being offered for her daughter, she recovered her 
sight, and was cured of her disease and all her 
infirmities, from which she had suffered so much. 


218 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


The rest of her life was passed in the enjoyment 
of perfect health. 

“Paella triennis, dum ad aram Sancti Thomse 
►Sacrum peragitur exitiali morbo eripitur.” 


MIRACLE VI. 

BY TOUCHING THE RELICS OF ST. THOMAS, A GIRL IS 

MIRACULOUSLY CURED OF A DISEASE PRONOUNCED 

INCURABLE. 

Another girl, of the age of twenty-six years, 
knew not what remedies to use for an ulcer 
which was spread over the whole of her face, so 
disfiguring her that no one could look at her 
without horror. Seeing this disease increase, and 
at length attack the vital parts of the body, the 
physician told her plainly that she had now 
nothing more to do than prepare for death, which 
would shortly arrive. A friend, who was very 
devout to S. Thomas, persuaded her to have 
recourse to his prayers, and to believe firmly that 
God would not fail to assist her by the merits of 
the blessed archbishop. She then caused some of 
his relics to be brought to her, which she applied 
herself with much faith and devotion to the parts 
which were the most painful, and almost instant¬ 
ly the disease disappeared. The flesh and skin 
which had before been putrified and decayed, 
quickly recovered their first and natural appear¬ 
ance, as if she had never been afflicted by so 
dreadful a disease. The inscription to this mira* 
cle is in these words: 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


219 


“ Virginem XVI. annorum foede ulceratam, et 
jam jam morituram, S. Thomsc reliquiae saluti 
reddunt.” 


MIRACLE VII. 

A CURE VERY SIMILAR TO THE PRECEDING BY THE 
MERITS OF S. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

A girl, whose leg and part of the thigh had 
been eaten away by an ulcer of long standing, 
expected death every day, the agonies she suf¬ 
fered rendering her life wearisome and almost 
insupportable. In this state she addressed her¬ 
self to S. Thomas, and prayed him with much 
devotion to intercede for her, that she might ob¬ 
tain, if not the health which she scarcely dared 
to ask for, at least an alleviation of her pains, 
and strength to endure them until it should 
please our Lord in Ilis mercy to deliver her from 
them in His own good time, by putting an end to 
her life and suffering together. Her prayer was 
heard, and even beyond what she had expected. 
For the Saint not only obtained the alleviation, 
but also the entire cure of her disease ; the leg, 
which before had been almost deprived of flesh, 
being now perfectly sound and firm, without any 
remains of its former condition, except some 
cicatrices upon the skin, which remained, as it 
were, to remind her continually of this wonderful 
miracle. It is described under this title: 

“Virgo desperato remedio cruris graviter vul- 
nerati Beati Tliomie ope sanatur.” 



220 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


MIRACLE VIII. 

A WOUNDED MAN, AFTER HAVING KEPT HIS BED TWO 
YEARS, IS MIRACULOUSLY CURED RY THE INTERCES¬ 
SION OF S. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

One day, when the people of Valentia were 
diverting themselves in the bull-ring, a shoe¬ 
maker, named Peter Assentio, had his side pierced 
by the horns of one of those beasts, which threw 
him to the ground with so much violence that 
he lay there dreadfully hurt. He was carried 
upon a ladder to his house, and every means 
taken for his recovery, for two years, without 
effect. For this reason, finding all human reme¬ 
dies useless, and only exhausting his purse with¬ 
out restoring his health, he resolved to have 
recourse to heavenly remedies by a special vow, 
which he made to S. Thomas of Villanova. 
From the first day of the No vena which he made 
at his tomb, he felt himself considerably better, 
and before it was finished, was entirely recov¬ 
ered. 

“ Valentinus Sartor, cui tautro in theatro 
latus graviter effoderat post biennium a S. 
Thoma liberatur.” 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


221 


MIRACLE IX. 

A MAN COVERED WITH ULCERS, WHICH CONFINED HIM 
TO IIIS BED FOR FOURTEEN YEARS, IS IN AN INSTANT 
RECOVERED BY THE FRAYERS OF S. THOMAS. 

A master mason of Valentia, named James 
Cervero, who had kept his bed for fourteen years, 
without hope of ever leaving it, except to be car¬ 
ried to the grave, the ulcers with which he was 
covered being pronounced incurable, in the month 
of October, 1605, was reduced by a fever and other 
complaints to the most extreme misery. Seeing 
then death before his eyes, he was visited by a 
person who was very devout to S. Thomas of 
Villanova, who induced him to invoke his assist¬ 
ance, and to recommend himself to his prayers. 
The poor man did so, and obliged himself, in case 
of his restoration to health, to hang a picture 
over his sepulchre, in which this miracle should 
be painted. It having pleased our Lord to listen 
to his prayer, three days were not passed before 
he found himself perfectly recovered, and all his 
wounds quite closed and healed. He afterwards 
faithfully performed his vow to the Saint. 

“Fabro coementario lievum latus continenti vul- 
nere excsesum S. Thomse presidio restituitur.” 


222 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


MIRACLE X. 

A PARALYTIC RECOVERS HIS HEALTH THROUGH 
THE INTERCESSION OF S. THOMAS. 

In the year 1608, a man of Yalentia, named 
Ciper, at the age of fifty-six years, had a para¬ 
lytic seizure, which deprived him of the use of 
one side. He tried every remedy which was 
suggested for his recovery, but finding that he 
only spent his time and money without any 
effect, he asked his health of God in fervent 
prayer, through the merits of S. Thomas, who, 
by touching the affected side with his right hand 
when he was sleeping, perfectly restored to him 
the use of it. 

“Apopleticus S. Thomie dextra in somno 
tactus incolumis evadit.” 


MIRACLE XI. 

A WOMAN IN A DANGEROUS LAROUR IS MIRACULOUSLY 
DELIVERED, AND HER DEAD CHILD BROUGHT TO 
LIFE THROUGH THE MERITS OF S. THOMAS. 

Anne Torres, wife of John Ramos, a citizen of 
Yalentia, suffering for several days every imagi¬ 
nable pain in her confinement, gave birth at last 
to a dead child. Those who were present vowed 
her to S. Thomas, to whom she had always been 
very devout, and included the child also in the 
vow, which was no sooner made, than she was in 



ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


223 


a state to return thanks to God herself. Our 
Lord not only restored her health, but the life 
also of the child, through the intercession of 
S. Thomas, whom she had invoked in her suffer¬ 
ings. 

“ Infanti mortuo vita simulque matri in extre¬ 
mis laboranti sanitas ope D. Thomce restituuntur.” 


MIRACLE XII. 

A DEAD MAN RAISED TO LIFE BV S. THOMAS. 

The author whom I have followed relates in 
his history so many miracles performed through 
the merits of this glorious Saint, from the year 
of his decease, 1555, to the year 1626, not to 
mention those which our Lord has continued 
until the present year, 1659, that there are 
enough not only to make a third part to this 
history, but an entire book, which we hope one 
day to see brought to light. I shall, then, end 
this account of his miracles with the remark of 
one who still lives, and who still speaks to preach 
the merits of this great Saint, to whom he is 
indebted for the life he now enjoys. This per¬ 
son is an Augustinian religious, named Father 
Thomas Bosch, between eighteen and nineteen 
years of age, who maintained a theological thesis 
in our convent of S. Augustine of Yalentia the 
28th of May of last year, 1628, which he dedi¬ 
cated to S. Thomas of Villanova, under this glo- 



224 


ST. THOMAS OP VILLANOVA. 


rious title, “In vitae restitutae obsequium;” to 
acknowledge the favour our Lord had shown 
him in his early years, having miraculously 
restored him to life by the merits and prayers 
of S. Thomas, to whom his parents dedicated 
him. The truth of this fact cannot be reason¬ 
ably disputed after the testimony of this thesis, 
which has been seen, examined, and approved 
by the Spanish Inquisition, according to cus¬ 
tom and the right it possesses in such cases. It 
has been placed in my hands by brother Louis 
Lubin Diacie, theologian of the community of 
Bourges, who has lately brought it from Spain, 
where the devotion to S. Thomas of Villanova, 
and the desire of obtaining knowledge, have de¬ 
tained him for some years, and who during his 
residence at Valentia, has seen this Brother 
Thomas Bosch, whose learning and virtue he 
holds in high estimation. He remarked among 
other things, that in conversation the tears al¬ 
ways came into his eyes whenever he spoke of 
S. Thomas of Villanova. “ In vitce restitutio 
obsequium.” 


THE LIFE 

OF 

SAINT FRANCIS SOLANO, 

APOSTLE OF PERU. 


16 








THE LIFE 


OF 

SAINT FRANCIS SOLANO. 


CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF S. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

While his Holiness, Paul III., exerted his en¬ 
ergies in crushing the numerous heresies which 
during his pontificate disgraced Europe, and the 
great Charles V. was extending his dominions 
in the West Indies, S. Francis of Solano was 
born in the year 1549, in Montillo, situate in 
Andalusia, the most fertile of the provinces of 
Spain. His father, Mathew Sanchez Solano, was 
held in such high repute among his fellow citi¬ 
zens, that he was twice elected provost of the 
city, and his mother, Anne Ximenes, was de¬ 
scended from a family equally distinguished for 
virtue and for birth. Spanish historians who 
have written his panegyric, have, in allusion to 
his name Solano, Sol uno, compared him to the 
sun, the bright luminary of day. Indeed, it 
seemed as if heaven had formed him to carry 
the light of faith and the heat of charity into 
regions where the sun produces its richest trea¬ 
sures ; for he extended the kingdom of Christ 



228 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


among those nations just then subjected to the 
Spanish monarch, and in the wilds of America 
repaired those losses to the holy Catholic Church 
which she sustained in Europe. 

He went through his studies in the Jesuits’ 
college of his native town, and during the period 
which they occupied, so far from betraying the 
evil inclinations unhappily so common in youth, 
he was a model of virtue to all his fellow stu¬ 
dents. He participated most devoutly in the 
holy sacraments at suitable times, spent hours in 
the church on his knees occupied in mental or 
vocal prayer, and devoted beside all necessary 
time to his studies. To avoid idleness, he culti¬ 
vated his father’s garden, preferring to humble 
himself after this manner, rather than to expose 
himself by idleness to those temptations by which 
so many souls suffer eternal shipwreck. He was 
so modest, so prudent, and so well behaved, that 
it was the common opinion his object was to be¬ 
come a Saint, rather than to be deeply learned; 
and his companions had, perhaps in consequence, 
so much respect for him, that they durst not 
hazard in his presence an improper expression. 
One day, while playing together on the banks of 
the river which flows through Montillo, two of 
them quarrelled, and from words proceeded to 
strokes; but Francis threw himself between them, 
and though one of the combatants hit him severe¬ 
ly, he desisted not until he had appeased both. 
Being afterwards asked if he did not feel hurt, he 
replied very calmly, “ 0 my object was to recon¬ 
cile them, and having succeeded in it, I have 
suffered nothing.” 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


229 


Another time he was equally fortunate in a 
more important matter. Two men went to fight 
a duel outside the town; by accident Francis per¬ 
ceived them, sword in hand, bent on each other’s 
destruction, and without fearing, as he well 
might, their dangerous weapons, he cast himself 
between them, and spoke to them so forcibly 
and so sweetly, that they let their swords fall, 
made peace one with another, and returned to 
the city good friends, though they had left it, as 
wo may believe, mortal enemies. 

But these were only little essays, in his secular 
condition, of that wonderful charity which the 
Saint was one day to practise towards his neigh¬ 
bour, as we shall see further on. 


CHAPTER II. 

FRANCIS ENTERS RELIGION, AND AFTER HIS NOVICIATE 
IS PROMOTED TO THE PRIESTHOOD. 

Divine Providence, which from all eternity de¬ 
signed Francis Solano to be one of the principal 
ornaments of the order of St. Francis, inspired 
him so with the desire of embracing it, that in 
1569 he solicited and obtained the holy habit in 
the convent of Montillo, one of the most strict in 
the province, being then in his 20th year. As 
after a protracted winter, the sun causes the 
fairest flowers to expand their leaves as it were 
suddenly, so did grace make the rarest virtue 
bloom in this servant of God, the moment he left 



230 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


the bleak region of the world, for the genial 
climate of holy religion. The noviciate was very 
rigorous in this convent, and yet the fervour of 
Francis led him to increase the austerities. The 
habit not seeming sufficiently coarse, he put on a 
hair cloth, and continued to wear it through life. 
He generally slept on a plank of cork, and in 
Lent and Advent upon a hurdle made expressly of 
large sticks, having no other pillow than a log of 
wood. He never used meat, eggs, or fish, save on 
solemn festivals, and then only by express com¬ 
mand, his usual diet being bread and herbs or 
fruit; on Fridays he ate nothing prepared by fire; 
and during Lent he fasted on Mondays, Wednes¬ 
days, and Fridays on bread and water. To these 
austerities he added disciplines so severe, or 
rather so cruel, that it was often necessary to 
wash the place where he had knelt, because of 
the quantity of blood with which it was stained. 

He so strictly observed the silence prescribed 
by the rule, that he never spoke but when neces¬ 
sary, and always so as to edify his neighbour. 
Modesty, sweetness, humility, and the other 
virtues which he had practised in the world, 
shone more brightly by his religious profession. 
His spirit of prayer was so eminent, that not 
satisfied with the time prescribed by the rule for 
this holy exercise, he devoted to it a consider¬ 
able part of the night, and often the morning 
star found him on his knees communing with the 
Almighty. Some of his fellow novices, who 
survived him, deposed in presence of the com¬ 
missaries appointed by the holy see to examine 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


231 


liis virtues and miracles, that even in the novice, 
ship they considered him to be a Saint, and his 
Father Master, Peter of Ojeda, declared to them 
on oath, that he deemed his disciple De Solano 
the most perfect image he knew on earth of a 
crucified God. 

After his profession, he continued for two years 
the exercises of the noviciate in the same con¬ 
vent, advancing in virtue as he advanced in age ; 
laying a deeper foundation of humility, living as 
if he were an angel in mortal flesh, and never 
reflecting that he was professed, save to remind 
himself that he was in consequence obliged to be 
more obedient, humble, mortified, and exact than 
the novices. 

These holy virtues were more remarkable in 
him when employed in “questing” or begging 
alms for the convent through the city, as was 
usual. It pleased God to honour this beginning of 
his functions by two miracles. While asking an 
alms, a woman, according to the custom in Spain, 
begged of him to read a gospel over her child, 
who was covered with ulcers; and Francis, after 
getting the child undressed, and recommending it 
to God, having licked the sores, they were soon 
after healed, and a perfect cure established, 
whether in reward of this heroic mortification of 
his senses, or by the efficacy of his prayers. The 
cure of a poor person who begged alms at the 
city gate was also attributed to this holy man; 
for he had fallen on his knees before this suffer¬ 
ing member of Jesus Christ, and kissed his feet, 
and a few days after the poor man’s legs, which 


232 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


were almost fetid with ulcers, became perfectly 
sound. 

It was now the year of our Lord 1571, two 
years after he had made his holy profession, 
when the superiors thought it advisable to 
remove Francis to the convent of S. Mary, about 
three leagues from Seville, to study philosophy 
and theology. The cells were numerous enough 
in this little sanctuary of peace, but to exercise 
greater poverty, and live in closer retirement, 
our Francis chose a little corner under the roof 
of the church, near the belfry, where he con¬ 
structed for himself a lodging. His furniture 
consisted of a wooden seat, and a hurdle for his 
bed, without mattress or coverlet. In this little 
cell he esteemed himself more happy than a king 
on his throne; there he spent whole days in 
silence, far away from the society of men, but 
fully compensated by that of God. 

It is related of S. Bonaventure, that he derived 
spiritual profit from all that he learned, and that 
hence his works are far more moving than those 
of other theologians. Now it is true, that S. 
Francis, who was specially devout to this sera¬ 
phic saint, endeavoured, like him, to derive 
spiritual food from his studies. His fasts, pray¬ 
ers, and tears, supplied for the dryness and 
sterility of the sciences; while he was engaged 
in acquiring them, he strove to humble himself, 
and so far from contenting himself with fine 
speculations, he enriched his will with good 
habits and holy resolutions. 

Would to God that all students followed his 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


233 


example! Many pique themselves on becoming 
learned, but few try to become holy and virtuous; 
and yet, learning without piety is often a snare 
which the devil spreads to inflate the mind and 
heart, and thus lead to eternal destruction; and 
after all, what reward can be expected in a future 
life for being very erudite, if one be not very 
holy and very perfect? Far better is it for a 
religious, surely, to surpass in sanctity, than in 
science and learning. 


CHAPTER III. 

SAINTLY CONDUCT OF S. FRANCIS SOLANO, AS VICAR 
OF CHOIR, PREACHER, MASTER OF NOVICES, AND 
GUARDIAN. 

The government of religious houses is, or 
should be, as conformable as possible to that of 
the celestial hierarchies, in which God regulates 
and appoints the various functions according to 
the several degrees of capacity and merit. Thus 
it was in the case of S. Francis Solano, for during 
liis studies he was promoted to the various em¬ 
ploys of religion. About the year 1573, he receiv¬ 
ed the order of priesthood, and celebrated his first 
mass on the feast of his glorious patriarch, S. 
Francis. His father came from Montillo to assist 
at this first sacrifice, and returned transported 
with joy at the fervour which he witnessed in his 
son, and the favourable testimony borne of his 
sanctity by his religious brethren. 


234 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


Discovering his capacity for every office, the 
superior first named Francis Master or Vicar of 
Choir. There was great reason to be satisfied 
with the manner in which he discharged this 
trust; for he had a fine voice, he perfectly under¬ 
stood plain chaunt, was most exact as to the 
ceremonies, had the office regulated beforehand, 
and was always first in, and last out of choir. 

Francis was next engaged in preaching, and 
his words drew such efficacy from his works, that 
his arguments were irresistible, so that the most 
inveterate sinners became his conquest. Indeed 
his mortified countenance alone preached pen¬ 
ance, his tears inspired it, and his whole manner 
and deportment enticed his auditors to the prac¬ 
tice of Christian perfection. The death of his 
father caused him to intermit his preaching for a 
while, his mother’s age and loss of sight requiring 
that he should visit her. It is scarcely necessary 
to say, that even then he was not idle, but 
laboured in the vineyard of the Divine Husband¬ 
man, by the consolations and spiritual help 
which he imparted to this only surviving parent. 

On returning to S. Mary’s convent in 1575, 
he was appointed Master of Novices in the 
monastery of Arizafa, near Cordova, which 
caused him to resume his old but intermitted 
exercises of the noviceship, persuading himself 
that he could not better form his young charge 
to the exercises and to virtue, than by his own 
example. Some of them, convinced of his great 
sanctity, not satisfied with observing him during 
the day, watched him at night, and thereby 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


235 


discovered that he spent the greater portion of 
it in prayer; that he was on his knees almost 
always, whether in his cell or in choir; that he 
often remained before the holy Sacrament from 
matins until prime; that he severely disciplined 
himself; and that profound sighs and broken 
sentences sometimes escaped him at prayer, 
which proved him to be deeply penetrated with 
divine love. These discoveries made a great im¬ 
pression on them, but the following rule of his 
produced greater. It was, that when they com¬ 
mitted a fault deserving correction, he obliged 
them to come to his cell, and in virtue of holy 
obedience, commanded them to give him the 
discipline unsparingly, as attributing to himself 
their faults, and in the belief that if he were not 
so great a sinner, they would not be such im¬ 
perfect novices. 

Inquiring of him what was the best penance 
which a religious could practise; he told them 
it was to exercise patience in adversities and 
trials, above all when they were inflicted by 
parents, friends, or religious persons. 

Another time they besought him to tell them 
how they had best use the discipline, so as to feel 
more pain; and he said that it was by striking 
different parts of the body, remembering that at 
His scourging the Son of God was rent and 
torn from the crown of His head to the soles of 
His feet. 

The salutary lessons of this pious master 
could not fail in forming fervent novices. In¬ 
deed the superiors were so pleased with his sue- 


236 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


cess, that in 1577 they sent him to the convent 
of S. Francis of the Mount, to continue there 
the same function. This house was the sanc¬ 
tuary, so to speak, of the province of Andalusia, 
affording wonderful facilities for holy contem¬ 
plation; for it was situate at the entrance of 
the frightful precipices which form the Sierra 
Morena, and was remote from the villages by a 
league and a half at one side, and by nearly 
double that distance at the other. Our saint 
loved this place well, as it may be supposed; 
there he greatly advanced in the spiritual and 
interior life; all his pleasure was silence, all his 
joy recollection, all his sweetness prayer. To 
these angelic exercises he joined many external 
mortifications. One day happening to see a 
quantity of thorns collected in a hollow near the 
convent, and conceiving the desire of imitating 
his holy founder, he undressed, threw himself 
upon them, and rolled himself about on this 
thorny couch until he was covered with blood. 
He fancied that this act had none but God for 
witness, but two religious saw him by chance to 
their extreme edification. 

Besides training the novices, Francis being 
ordered to catechise and preach in the vicinity 
of the monastery on Sundays and festivals, went 
through the villages instructing the children, who 
flocked to him on all sides. If the passers by 
stopped, as was sometimes the case, he spoke 
to them with so much unction and fervour, that 
several cast themselves on the instant at his feet, 
truly converted, and made their peace with God. 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


237 


Nor did this success elate the saint, on the con¬ 
trary, it rendered him more humble; and what is 
equally worthy of admiration, after having ex¬ 
horted and catechised for hours together, he 
returned fasting to the monastery, refusing the 
invitations that wero made to him on all sides. 

Universal joy prevailed when the holy man 
was appointed guardian of this convent; he him¬ 
self was the only one to regret it, and that he 
sincerely did, for he made every exertion con¬ 
sistent with holy obedience to avoid it. To ac¬ 
quit himself well of the office, he was the first 
at all regular observances. His exactness sur¬ 
passed that of the novices. He went on quest 
with the sack like the rest of the community; 
anticipated the infirmarian, very frequently dis¬ 
charging the lowest offices for the sick; and some¬ 
times entering the refectory, he wept bitterly 
while the religious were at table, and cast himself 
on his knees, accusing himself of his faults, and 
beseeching them to impose a penance upon him. 
This fervent conduct produced excellent results 
on the brethren, who were thrown into a holy 
confusion by this humility of their superior. 
They confessed that nothing so strongly pressed 
them on in the path of perfection as his example. 
The superior ought ever to be a fit model for 
those he governs; example is so much more 
influential than precept. When he advances at 
the head of his community, few, if any, stray 
from the direct path; whereas, if he is content 
with fine speeches, if he only says and does not, 
individuals act as they please, and follow the 
blind guides of their own self-love and self-will. 


238 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


CHAPTER IV. 

CONDUCT OF S. FRANCIS OF SOLANO DURING TIIE 
PLAGUE AT MONTORO. 

Charity is the queen of virtues, as uniting 
us perfectly to God, and leading us to lend our 
neighbour all manner of assistance. Hitherto 
we have been showing that in the former Francis 
was a proficient, and that his heart was a furnace 
of divine love; we will now prove that he mani¬ 
fested in the most convincing manner the ardour 
of his love for his neighbour. 

All know and dread plague, as being almost 
invariably followed by sudden death; and, there¬ 
fore, no sooner is one stricken by it, than friends 
and relations fly away and leave him to his fate, 
unmindful alike of the obligations of nature 
and of religion. Not so S. Francis of Solano: 
soon after he had ceased to be guardian, the 
city of Montoro was afflicted with this dreadful 
scourge to such an extent, that for the accom¬ 
modation of the numerous sick it was found 
necessary to lodge many of them in a hermitage 
dedicated to S. Sebastian, outside the city, which 
was soon filled to excess. Not being sufficiently 
supplied with confessors, our holy servant of God 
being then more free, the period of his guardian¬ 
ship having expired, besought the new guardian 
for permission to go and assist the sick, and 
having obtained it, proceeded with a good reli¬ 
gious, named Father Bonaventure, to assist tho 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


230 


sick and dying in the hospital. They were re¬ 
ceived in Montoro with great respect and joy, 
and the poor plague-stricken inmates of S. Se¬ 
bastian’s, in which they took up their abode, 
looked upon them as terrestrial angels deputed 
to their relief and succour, for in their service 
they did and suffered many things which appear¬ 
ed to surpass human exertion. 

Here they consoled the afflicted, exhorting 
them most tenderly to commit themselves per¬ 
fectly to the will of Divine Providence; they 
administered the Sacraments, they assisted the 
agonizing, they made the beds of the sick, they 
prepared their remedies and their food, they 
buried the dead; and all this with so good a 
grace, so diligently, and so sweetly, that charity 
shone in their least as well as in their most signal 
actions. Indeed, this holy virtue lent them wings, 
so to speak: days and nights otherwise were 
too short for their numerous and onerous occu¬ 
pations. As to the fear of death they had none, 
knowing that should they sink in the glorious 
cause of charity, it would be followed by a bless¬ 
ed immortality. F. Bonaventure experienced this, 
it is to be presumed; for he became a victim to 
the dreadful malady. Our Saint sensibly felt 
his decease, but the evident marks of predestina¬ 
tion which accompanied it greatly consoled him. 

Here we should remark in passing, that those 
who die thus may be considered martyrs of 
charity, this virtue having its heroes as well as 
faith. The Roman Martyrology honours with 
the title of martyr those who in the reign of 


240 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


the emperor Valerian lost their lives in assist¬ 
ing those who had been struck with plague. 

Our holy servant of God survived his attack 
of this frightful malady, in order to render to 
religion greater services: while it lasted his pa¬ 
tience erected new trophies to the Divine glory, 
for he suffered extremely and yet without a mur¬ 
mur or complaint, without a wish to live or a fear 
to die. He left himself entirely in the hands of 
God, and when restored to health resumed his 
occupations in the hospital, like a rivulet which 
continues its course when all the impediments 
are removed. Nor did he discontinue his labours 
until the exterminating angel had sheathed his 
sword; it was then, and not till then, that the 
holy man returned to his convent. He carried 
with him the grateful thanks of the inhabitants 
of Montoro, and the people of the neighbouring 
villages came out to meet him as he proceeded 
homeward, their admiration of his virtue sur¬ 
mounting their fear of contagion. He received 
them most graciously; but not wishing to lose 
time by the way, proceeded to his beloved mon¬ 
astery, where the religious expected him with all 
the pious eagerness inspired by charity. 




ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


241 


CHAPTER V. 

ST. FRANCIS BEGS LEAVE TO GO INTO BARB ARY ; HE 

IS REFUSED, BUT SUCCEEDS IN OBTAINING PER¬ 
MISSION TO PROCEED TO AMERICA. 

Tiie superiors of St. Francis of Solano, perhaps 
because of the great edification he everywhere 
gave, removed him frequently. Soon after his 
return to the convent of St. Francis of the Mount, 
he was ordered to that of St. Lewis, near Grana¬ 
da. He joyfully proceeded thither, notwithstand¬ 
ing his preference for the sweet solitude which 
he left, obeying blindly for love of Him who 
obeyed unto the death of the cross. But in 
changing his residence, he changed not his reli¬ 
gious practices; for he invariably remained with 
Mary at the feet of Jesus, however busily enga¬ 
ged, like Martha, in serving Him in His mem¬ 
bers. 

The famous hospital reared by the blessed 
John of God now became the theatre of his 
charity: to it he went, as often as he could get 
permission from his superior, to assist the sick, 
making the beds, administering remedies to the 
soul as well as the body by hearing confessions, 
&c. in the various wards of this great receptacle 
of human infirmities. 

The prisons too were hallowed by his visits, 
and blessed by his services; his kindness and 
sympathy for the poor persons confined in them 
being manifested in word and deed. Thus not a 
17 


242 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


moment was spent without the exercise of good 
works. But perceiving that many began to en¬ 
tertain for him great esteem, Francis, apprehen¬ 
sive that pride might arrest him in the midst of 
his career, formed the design of leaving the 
localities in which he was known, and of seeking 
other places where he would be likely to suffer, 
and be despised for God. With this view he ea¬ 
gerly solicited permission to pass into Barbary, 
there to instruct, serve, and console the slaves, 
and, if necessary, even to shed his blood for Christ; 
but he could not obtain this license from his 
superiors, who judged that his presence was of 
great utility in the province, and were moreover 
unwilling to deprive themselves of the benefits 
of his example. 

But soon Divine Providence furnished him 
with the means of executing his design. It was 
customary with the kings of Spain to send Fran¬ 
ciscan Fathers to America from time to time; 
and Philip II., the reigning monarch, just then 
besought a supply of these holy missionaries from 
the superiors. Knowing this, St. Francis was 
one of the first to get himself appointed for the 
mission, which having done, no entreaty or argu¬ 
ment of friend or relative, however dear, could 
change his purpose. 

Having inquired in what part of the Indies 
there was most want of evangelical labourers, 
and learning that it was Tucuman, one of the 
most remote in South America, he entreated 
F. Balthegar Navarro, who was appointed com¬ 
missary to these remote and extensive countries, 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


243 


to allow him to accompany him, leaving the other 
religious in Nicaragua, Lima, and elsewhere. 

The Franciscans have laboured most efficiently 
in planting the faith in the New World. F. Platus, 
of the holy Society of Jesus, relates in his book 
on the religious state, that at the first voyage 
Columbus made for its discovery in 1493, several 
friars accompanied him to bear the light of the 
Gospel to those idolatrous nations. After they 
had landed in an island discovered during the 
preceding year, mass was celebrated by F. John 
Piretio, a Franciscan of the province of Andalusia, 
and on the spot on which his first sacrifice was 
offered, a convent was built in honour of St. 
Francis in process of time. 

When Don Ferdinand Cortez followed up this 
enterprise in the time of Charles V., Pope Leo X. 
issued a missionary brief, authorising F. Francis 
of the Angels, and F. John Glapion, both provin¬ 
cials of the holy order of St. Francis, to proceed to 
the conversion of the infidels. Neither undertook 
the charge, the latter having died in Spain, and 
the other being elected general; but he deputed 
others in his place, who laboured so successfully, 
that Surius says they converted in the kingdom 
of Mexico alone more than seven millions. The 
first archbishop appointed from among them, 
F. John Zumaraga, wrote to the general chapter 
held at Toulouse in the year 1531, that the 
new apostles had destroyed more than twenty 
thousand idols, pulled down more than five 
hundred idolatrous temples, built several church¬ 
es, erected in all places the standard of the cross, 


244 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


and that instead of the twenty thousand little 
children annually slain in honour of those false 
divinities in the city of Mexico alone, the new 
converts offered their young offspring to the true 
and living God, and thanked Him with all fervour 
and sincerity for having, by means of the Fran¬ 
ciscan Fathers, called them from the darkness 
of paganism “to the admirable light” of Jesus 
Christ. 


CHAPTER VI. 

ST. FRANCIS OF SOLANO EMBARKS FOR TIIE INDIES; HE 
SUFFERS SHIPWRECK, AND FOR THREE DAYS AND 
THREE NIGHTS IS IN DANGER OF PERISHING. 

In the year of our Lord 1589 the blessed 
Francis sailed from his native shore, to become 
the parent of many children in Christ in the 
vast and newly-discovered continent of America. 
During the voyage, though his greatest delight 
was to commune with God in the secret of his 
soul, yet he exercised charity towards all, preach¬ 
ing, catechising, hearing confessions, and endea¬ 
vouring by frequent repetition to impress on the 
minds and hearts of the crew and passengers this 
true and solemn maxim, “ It is better to die , than 
to commit a mortal sin? 

Without staying sail, the fleet safely arrived 
within two leagues of St. Domingo. Francis, in 
company with some others, went on shore in a 
shalloop, but not being able to return to the 
ship, this smaller vessel being too heavily laden 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


245 


with the provisions laid in at the above island, 
he was obliged to remain with a few persons 
until it should come back, which did not take 
place until the night was far advanced. While 
awaiting it, fancying himself already in those 
regions in which he was to exercise his zeal, the 
holy man was so inflamed with divine love that 
he could not restrain his transports. “Ah Lord,” 
did he say, “the time is come for the accomplish¬ 
ment of my desires; be pleased to grant me the 
favour of dying for you; do bestow upon me the 
crown of martyrdom.” Then he raised his arms 
on high, clasped his hands, and commenced sing¬ 
ing the praises of Jesus and Mary in so loud a 
strain, that those who were with him became 
alarmed, and implored him to be silent, lest the 
wild inhabitants, attracted from their mountain 
fastnesses by the noise, might descend and de¬ 
stroy them. 

All reached the vessel next morning, the 
shalloop having made a second trip to the 
island ; the fleet then resumed its course, and 
having made Carthagena, and recruited itself for 
some days, it continued its way to Porto Bello, 
where the Spanish galleons were used to land. 
All disembarked here, each person going to his 
particular destination; the blessed Francis with 
the father commissary proceeding to Panama. 
While awaiting an opportunity of passing on to 
Peru, S. Solano resumed such of the exercises of 
the religious life as ho had been for some time 
compelled by circumstances to intermit. To be 
more closely united with God, he resolved to have 


246 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


no other cell than the church of the convent; so 
placing in a corner the bundle of rushes which 
served him for a bed, and a log of wood for a 
pillow, he there spent his days and nights under 
the eyes of God with infinite delight and conso- 
ation, and never left the precincts of the con¬ 
vent save to visit the hospital. 

An opportunity of proceeding to his destina¬ 
tion having occurred, he re-embarked with some 
others. For some time the passage was favour¬ 
able, but as the vessel neared the Gulf of Gor- 
gona, a violent tempest arose which stranded her. 
As the water entered through the many openings 
then made in her keel and sides, all on board 
perceived that shipwreck was inevitable; so that 
the captain at once betook himself to the shal- 
loop, with the religious and other persons of 
distinction. S. Francis of Solano declined all 
invitation to follow them and share in their 
safety; for seeing among those who remained 
on the wreck, eighty negroes newly arrived from 
the coast of Guinea, the greater number of whom 
were not yet baptised, he remained with them, 
though his destruction thereby seemed unavoid¬ 
able. In this purpose he was supported by the 
example of Jesus Christ, who “having joy pro¬ 
posed unto Him, endured the cross,” for the sake 
of men, “despising the shame.” After the 
shalloop had sailed, he catechised these poor 
creatures as well as the circumstances would 
permit; and having soon after baptised them at 
their unanimous request, they were speedily put 
in possession of their portion of eternal inheri- 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


247 


tance, a wave having split the vessel, and the 
greater number of them being drowned. Such 
of the crew as remained on the poop were, 
though in comparative safety, afraid every mo¬ 
ment of going to the bottom. But Francis, to 
reanimate their courage, took a crucifix in his 
hand, and uncovering his shoulders, disciplined 
himself to blood, loudly imploring in the mean¬ 
time the Divine mercy. Still the danger con¬ 
tinued, so that many threw themselves on planks 
into the sea, rather than hazard as they thought 
certain destruction. They entreated the holy 
man to accompany them, but he would not listen 
to it, certain as he assured the persons that 
remained, that in three days they should, if they 
had confidence in God, be rescued from danger. 
This period was spent without eating or sleeping, 
for besides that the provisions had been lost, 
several were up to the middle, and some even to 
the neck in water; but still they were so affected 
by the pious conversation of S. Solano, that as 
they themselves subsequently testified before the 
ecclesiastical judges, they spent all the time in 
great conformity to the Divine will, and wonder¬ 
ful interior consolation. 

The shalloop too had very nearly been swal¬ 
lowed in the waves; it was only by dint of swim¬ 
ming that those who took refuge in her got to 
shore. Still they considered themselves for¬ 
tunate, compared with those whom they had left 
in the ship, and whom they gave up for lost; but 
after two days perceiving a signal fire, and recog¬ 
nizing thereby that the wreck was not yet sub- 


248 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


merged, they dispatched the shalloop to their 
rescue. 

On arriving where the ship lay, tears of joy 
and pity were shed on both sides. S. Solano was 
the last to leave the wreck; he saw all safe in the 
shalloop before he consulted for his own deliver¬ 
ance, so disinterested is true charity, and thank¬ 
ed God for having freed them from imminent 
peril at the time he had foreshown, after having 
exercised them in the practice of the virtues of 
confidence and holy conformity. 


CHAPTER VII. 

ST. FRANCIS TARRIES FOR THREE MONTHS IN A 
DESERT ISLAND. HE ARRIVES AT PERU, WHENCE 
HE PASSES TO THE PROVINCES OF TUCUMAN. 

St. Francis and his companions had still much 
to suffer; on shore as well as at sea the Lord 
was pleased to try them, for the place of landing 
was a desert island, where no human assistance 
was to be had. But the prayers of this saintly 
man were most efficacious in their regard. 
Being tormented by hunger, they fell upon any 
thing in the shape of food which came to hand, 
and in their eagerness eat some species of fruit 
which fell from the trees; but it proved fatal 
to them, perhaps because taken immoderately, 
for several, after becoming greatly swollen, died 
in the course of the following day. This accident 
greatly afflicting St. Solano, he absolutely for- 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


249 


bade them to touch this fruit, and gathering 
some herbs and little fishes, and other marine 
substances, he blessed them, and distributed a 
portion to each. 

For the space of two months that they abode 
in this inhospitable isle, charity transformed him 
into every shape for the service of those persons, 
and rarely was he to be seen satisfying his own 
wants. Tents being formed of the branches of 
trees in proportion to the number requiring 
accommodation, one of these frail edifices was by 
the Saint destined for an oratory, which he took 
care to decorate with the silks and other valuable 
materials that the sea from time to time cast on 
shore from their wrecked vessel. When all was 
ready, an altar was raised therein, on which 
having placed a statue of the most holy Virgin, 
public prayers commenced, to be offered there 
daily, which exercises were concluded by the 
chaunting of the Salve Regina every night. 

Like Moses, who retired apart from the people 
to converse more freely with God, S. Francis 
erected his tent about 500 paces distant from the 
others; but he never failed to interrupt his close 
and delightful communications with the Most 
High, and, like his prototype, to descend from 
the mountain whenever it was necessary for the 
spiritual or temporal health of his little flock. 

A quarrel having arisen amongst them con¬ 
cerning some pieces of stuff, the cargo of their 
former vessel, cast in by the sea, they took up 
arms and were proceeding to fight for the booty, 
when the saint receiving intimation, came forth 


250 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


from his tent, his shoulders bared, and casting 
himself in the midst, besought them to stop for 
the love of God, and began disciplining himself 
to blood as a further inducement. The chiefs 
of the party at once cast down their weapons, 
and prostrating themselves before him constitu¬ 
ted him the arbiter of their different claims, and 
promised thenceforward to live in peace. 

This was their last, if not their first, quarrel; 
the remaining time was spent in harmony and 
concord, though they must have suffered im¬ 
mensely during their sojourn in this inhospitable 
clime; for though F. Navarro had sailed thence 
in the shalloop upon their arrival, he had 100 
leagues’ voyaging before he could regain his 
destination, Panama, and could, therefore, afford 
them no help or succour. The holy festival of 
Christmas was now at hand, and brought to them, 
as to the shepherds of old, tidings of joy and 
deliverance; for on that ever-blessed night on 
which the Lord Jesus was born for us in Beth¬ 
lehem, their holy guide, descending from his tent, 
came in the midst of them, and, enraptured with 
ecstasy, predicted that in three days a vessel 
would come to their assistance. This good news 
increased the fervour with which they celebrated 
the joyous solemnity: need we say that the pro¬ 
phecy was verified? at the exact time predicted 
the vessel did arrive by order of the royal cham¬ 
ber of Panama, and the whole company being 
taken on board, they joyfully crowded sail, and 
were soon landed at Payta, a sea-port of Peru. 
S. Francis proceeded thence by land to Lima, the 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


251 


ordinary residence then of the Spanish viceroys; 
but after a short stay, in which he recovered in 
in some degree from his recent fatigues, he pur¬ 
sued his journey to Tucuman, the immense 
provinces of which he knew to be in more ex¬ 
treme want of missionaries. That to which he 
directed his course was named Socoton, situate 
about 700 leagues from Lima; the way to it lay 
through frightful deserts, intercepted by rapid 
rivers, but nothing was insurmountable to his 
apostolic spirit; desiring only to increase the 
Divine glory by the conversion of innumerable 
souls to God, he looked upon difficulties only to 
animate himself to overcome them. 

Here we would fain remark on that zeal to 
increase the Divine honour which animates many, 
and which may be truly characterized an effect 
of ardent love and charity. How does it burst 
the bonds of natural affection, rend human ties, 
and make men insensible to peril and danger, 
to fly to unknown and barbarous countries, des¬ 
titute of aid and support, in order to instruct 
the savage, to cultivate the uncivilized, to teach 
the inhabitants of the wigwam and of the for¬ 
est to know God and His Son Jesus Christ! 
Well, indeed, may those who are devoted to 
this glorious work be styled Apostles, Heroes of 
Christianity. Let us esteem their intrepidity, if 
we have not courage to imitate it; let us labour 
for the conversion of sinners, if we have not 
zeal enough to preach the Gospel to infidels ; 
let us, each one in his own sphere, endeavour 
to gain to Christ those souls whom He has pur- 


252 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


cliased with His blood, whether by good advice, 
timely admonition, zealous instruction, or firm 
and edifying example. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

FIRST EMPLOYMENT OF S. FRANCIS AT TUCUMAN. 

To the children of the seraphic Francis of 
Assisium, are the rich and fertile countries, wa¬ 
tered by the river Plata, indebted for the light 
of salvation. The first who planted the good 
seed in these vast regions was F. Lewis Bolanos, 
who going thither while as yet only deacon, 
learned the language of the country, translated 
into it the elements of the Christian belief, and 
converted a great number of infidels. He also 
translated the Catechism of the Council of Lima, 
which was subsequently printed in five languages 
by another Franciscan, afterwards bishop of the 
imperial city of Chili. 

To F. Bolanos succeeded an Andalusian F. 
Alphonsus of S. Bonaventure, who was himself 
followed by the saintly subject of our narra¬ 
tive, S. Francis Solano, from the same province. 
On his arrival he was appointed Rector of So- 
coton and Magdalen of Cocosori, both in the 
vicinity of Esteco; but before exercising his 
ministry to any great extent, he had to study 
the Indian language, or the patois, called the 
Toconote. He succeeded in it wonderfully, so 
much so, that his proficiency, which was the 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


253 


amazement of his companion, F. A. Diaz, was 
attributed bj the natives to magic. 

This provision made, he applied himself to 
preaching, catechising, and hearing the confes¬ 
sions of his flock. Looking upon his charge of 
rector, not as a means of living at his ease, but 
an obligation to work more laboriously, he omit¬ 
ted no one of his many accustomed austerities. 
The consequence was, that in a short time he 
became so feeble and emaciated, that he could 
scarcely stand. Though weakened to this degree, 
he took the greatest precautions for his virtue, 
forbidding women to approach within a hundred 
paces of his habitation, and never conversing with 
the sex, save in the holy tribunal, or when other 
religious duty required it. 

The savages whom he found converted, he led 
to the practice of Christian perfection by his 
exhortations and heroic example; and those 
who had not yet received the faith, he sought 
out in their woods and forests, when divine grace 
did not lead them to come and seek for instruc¬ 
tion. Heaven seconded his exertions; for in a 
short time these barbarians became familiar with 
him, and as he spoke their language perfectly, 
numbers of them, laying aside their natural fe¬ 
rocity, submitted to the gospel, and soon led 
many of their savage acquaintances to the faith. 

The following admirable incident occurred 
while S. Francis was thus making progress in 
his holy design. Having learned that during 
Holy Week the new Christians would be quite 
occupied in pious exercises, the still unconverted 


254 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


tribes assembled in vast numbers as well from 
Paraguay as from Tucuman, and made a descent 
on Socoton, where the Saint lived, designing to 
massacre all who might fall in their way. Taken 
by surprise the Christians had but time to recur 
to God, beseeching Him to succour them; but 
their holy apostle with more generosity advanced 
to meet the savages, and having by supernatural 
power arrested their onward course, he made 
them so moving a sermon on the Passion of our 
Divine Lord, and exhorted them so earnestly to 
embrace his holy religion, that on that day 
more than nine thousand of their number re¬ 
ceived baptism. In proof of the sincerity of their 
conversion, many of them took a severe discipline 
on that same night in common with the other 
Christians, in memory of our Saviour’s cruel 
scourging. This extraordinary event inspired 
the Indians with such great veneration for the 
Saint, that many, forsaking their woods and 
deserts, came to solicit instruction; others cast 
themselves at his feet when they chanced to meet 
him; many more respectfully kissed his hand, 
or made him little presents. Availing himself 
of these good sentiments, he spoke to them with 
sweetness, zeal, and charity, testifying on all 
occasions his great pity for their ignorance and 
their spiritual miseries. No wonder that by 
these sweet and powerful means he succeeded 
in civilizing those savage creatures, since he 
was able to tame wild beasts. One day that the 
governor of the city of S. Michael, Don John 
Velasquez, treated the people to a bull fight, a 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


255 


sport of which Spaniards are extremely fond, 
a furious bull after goring several Indians in tho 
course, broke down the barriers, and rushing 
madly on, encountered in its way Father Solano: 
a witness of his imminent danger, the governor 
called for assistance ; but the Saint, quite un¬ 
daunted, waited for the animal, which approach¬ 
ing gently, as if to fawn upon him, licked his 
cincture, and passed on without molesting him, 
to the great joy and admiration of all the be¬ 
holders. 

On another occasion encountering a bull pur¬ 
sued by hunters, he cast himself on his knees 
and joined his hands; the animal coming up, 
threw himself on his fore feet, and having, as 
it were, kissed his holy hands, fled from his pur¬ 
suers. These are extraordinary circumstances, 
but we read of many such in the Lives of the 
Fathers of the Desert. Besides it is a principle 
of theology, that the revolt of irrational creatures 
against man, is a consequence of man’s rebellion 
against his Maker; and from the same holy 
source we learn too, that the most furious 
animals have often manifested the original sub¬ 
mission and tameness of the species, towards 
those in whom the disorders of Adam’s sin had 
been fully repaired. 


25G 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


CHAPTER IX. 

S. FRANCIS SOLANO MAKES SOME JOURNEYS IN TUCUMAN; 

HE SIGNALIZES HIS VIRTUE IN ALL PLACES. 

Fraternal charity being a participation in the 
infinite love of God, has no bounds or limits. 
That of S. Francis Solano was so far from being 
satisfied with bestowing all manner of care on 
the persons confided to his spiritual conduct, 
that he undertook several journeys in the vicinity 
of Socoton, signalizing himself by miracles. 

Journeying with several others from S. Michael 
to S. James del Estero, he came to the bank of 
a river, where he found many wanting to go 
across, and utterly unable, because they had not 
a boat, and it was not safe to swim. Another 
difficulty too presented itself; the horses on 
which they road were so tormented by flies, that 
they occasioned great annoyance. Chagrin was 
the prevailing sentiment throughout the assem¬ 
blage; but the Saint consoled them by saying, 
that at nine o’clock next morning they would be 
able to cross the river. Meantime he prayed, 
and in a moment the horses became quiet; he 
afterwards cast a line which he had brought into 
the river, and having caught a fish sufficiently 
large to regale his companions, he distributed it 
among them, contenting himself with a few 
grains of corn. Next morning witnessed the 
accomplishment of his prediction ; at the hour 
mentioned, the river becoming passable, the com- 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


257 


panj proceeded on tlieir way, blessed God, and 
thanked His servant whom He made the instru¬ 
ment of His mercies. 

Arriving at S. James’s, they found the place 
torn by dissensions, and the various parties ready 
to pull each other to pieces through mutual 
hatred. The holy man shed tears at this sad 
state of things, and at once exerted every means 
to appease the public mind, and in this he 
happily succeeded before those with whom he 
journeyed had arranged their business. 

Returning from Paraguay to Tucuman, a 
great drought was experienced ; for three days 
there was not a single drop of water to be had 
to quench the thirst of the travellers, at which 
some soldiers of the party blasphemed the holy 
Name of God. As we may well imagine, S. 
Solano was greatly afflicted at this outrage 
against the Divine Majesty, and in his anxiety 
to put an end to it, as well as to relieve his 
more Christian fellow-travellers, he besought the 
Most High in their favour, and sending a reli¬ 
gious of the Order of Mercy, who was with them, 
to a hillock at a short distance designated most 
precisely, the fountain was discovered under a 
stone, which being removed the waters flowed 
down the plain, and continued their course for 
centuries after. 

The opening of the fountain of Talavera, since 
called the fountain of Holy Father Solano, is still 
more wonderful. The inhabitants of this latter, 
which was then annexed to Socoton, and conse¬ 
quently under the spiritual care of this Saint, 
18 


258 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


being in great need of water, and having found 
every human effort to procure it unavailing, 
determined to abandon the locality, and seek a 
habitation elsewhere. Before proceeding to such 
extremity, however, they recurred to S. Solano, 
who after exhorting them to confidence in God, 
engaged that they should find a fountain near 
the town. Then betaking himself to prayer for 
some hours, he proceeded to a spot in the vicinity 
accompanied by many, and commanded them to 
open and dig up the earth ; having done so, a 
source of sweet and limpid water was seen to 
issue forth so abundantly, that it sufficed to turn 
two mills. 

All these circumstances were subsequently 
attested to Don Francesco Alfaro, Consultor of 
the Holy Office, when he visited the province, as 
he juridically declared, 26th October, 1628, in 
aid of the cause of the beatification of St. Francis 
Solano. 


CHAPTER X. 

ST. FRANCIS IS APPOINTED SUPERIOR OF ALL THE 
CONVENTS OF HIS ORDER IN TUCUMAN ; HE IS 
AFTERWARDS SENT TO THE CONVENT OF RETREAT 
AT LIMA. 

It is not to be wondered at, that St. Solano’s 
missionary labours were distinguished by so many 
miracles, since he performed them in so apostolic 
a manner. Lima, the capital of Peru, is six hun- 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


259 


dred or seven hundred leagues from Tucuman, 
and the road between them, through high moun¬ 
tains and sandy vales, where beasts of burden 
often die of heat and fatigue; vast deserts, 
frightful forests, here and there intersected by 
rapid torrents; worse still, this toilsome way was 
infested by barbarians more ferocious than the 
fiercest animals. In Tucuman itself the cities 
are very remote one from another; hence, no one 
undertakes to travel on foot. But Francis, who 
had come without horse or purse from Lima to 
this extensive territory, journeyed through it 
invariably on foot. In the performance of mis¬ 
sionary duties, three years did he pass there; 
after that period, F. Anthony Ortiz, commissary 
of the provinces of Peru, having assembled a 
chapter of the Franciscans in the valley of 
Xauxa, F. Solano, whose merit was well known, 
was elected superior of all the missions and 
convents of the order in Tucuman. There not 
being a sufficient number of the latter in the 
country to erect it into a province, St. Francis 
was simply styled Guardian, but with all tho 
authority and duties of provincial. He was 
greatly surprised at his election, judging himself 
utterly unworthy of being chosen: obedience 
alone compelled him to accept the dignity. 
However, he contrived to lay it down in a year, 
which period he spent in visiting his convents, in 
exhorting the fathers who governed the different 
parishes to be careful of their flock, the mission¬ 
ary preachers to make moving and affecting 
discourses, the catechists not to be satisfied in 


260 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


teaching the Christian doctrine to those who pre¬ 
presented themselves, but to go in search of those 
who despised it, and to expose their lives to gain 
souls to God. 

These public functions did not interfere in the 
least with his pious exercises; the entire night he 
devoted partly to prayer, partly to bloody discip¬ 
lines. He used the roughest hair cloths, and 
never indulged any thing like mirth or unseemly 
laughter; as he desired nothing so ardently as 
to see God honoured, known, and loved, his con¬ 
versation generally tended to lead the faithful 
never to commit mortal sin, and the infidels to be 
converted. The Franciscans here were delighted 
to be under his government, but it was enough 
for him to be superior, not to remain long in 
his post. Elevation was a state of violence for 
him, the weight of his humility causing him 
invariably to descend from it. He wrote, he 
entreated, he urged to that degree, that F. 
Ortiz, overcome by his desires, received his re¬ 
nunciation of the guardianship. Still it was only 
on condition that F. Solano should proceed to 
the retreat convent of Lima, recently established 
by F. Andrew Corijo, an estimable religious; to 
this, however, our Saint had no objection, foras¬ 
much as he was by the appointment flying from 
the extraordinary honours paid him at every step 
in Tucuman. 

He proceeded to Lima as soon as possible; and 
though greatly exhausted by the rigours of pen¬ 
ance he faced the toils of this journey with 
incredible gladness, as he now hoped to remain 
hidden and despised in the retreat convent. 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


261 


The Spaniards and newly converted Indians at 
Tucuman deeply felt his loss; they ardently 
desired to preserve among them their father in 
the faith, their model, their Saint; and hence, 
their complaints against F. Ortiz for permitting 
his departure. Not satisfied with venting them¬ 
selves in word, they proceeded to write to this 
father on the subject, and so forcibly, that he 
resolved to send them back their apostle, and 
would have done so had it not been represented 
to him, that St. Solano was unfit for the jour¬ 
ney, his health was so broken. The Saint then 
remained at the convent of Lima, still applying 
himself to religious exercises, and not allowing 
nature peace or truce. He was disappointed in 
his hope of eluding honours by this change of 
abode, but he should for that end have altogether 
divested himself of his virtue, a thing not to be 
thought of. 

Almost immediately upon his arrival at Lima, 
the very fervent religious chosen from out the 
province to be the foundation of the reformed 
house of our Lady of Angels, looked upon them¬ 
selves as novices compared with F. Solano. 
They at once desired him for their superior; but 
as his consent could not be procured, he was at 
least obliged to accept the charge of vicar of 
this convent; and he did not despise this sub¬ 
ordinate office in a new house, though formerly so 
elevated in one more ancient and venerable, such 
was his humility. Proposing to himself nothing 
but the glory of God, the good of religon, and 
his own salvation, he on the one hand exactly 


262 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


obeyed the father guardian, as holding the place 
of God, and on the other was most precise in 
fulfilling every function of his office. 

After his example the greatest men have been 
and are still willing to discharge the lowest 
offices in religion. In effect, there is no post 
dishonourable “in the house of the Lord;” every 
thing that we do there derives value from the 
contract made with Him; actions, the merit of 
which appears as nought in the eyes of the world, 
are thus enhanced through the mercy of God; He 
accepts them because done for His love, and 
finally crowns them with eternal bliss. 


CHAPTER XI. 

FIOUS EXERCISES OF S. FRANCIS DURING HIS FOUR 
YEARS’ SOJOURN AT OUR LADY OF ANGELS IN LIMA. 

God promises to recompense the humiliations 
of His servants by honours, their poverty by 
riches, their mortifications by pleasures, but their 
devotion He cannot reward, save by increasing it, 
nor their love, but by augmenting it, there being 
nothing better than the love which we bear Him, 
and “the eternal charity” wherewith He mutually 
cherishes us. 

Hitherto we have spoken of the austerities of 
S. Francis Solano. It is true that we could have 
intermixed with them many acts which were the 
result of ardent devotion and tender love, but we 
prefer collecting them in one chapter, that, being 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


263 


consecutively read, they may sustain one another, 
and the Christian learn thus to respect what 
infidels blaspheme. 

The principal devotion of this holy man was 
the most holy Sacrament of the altar; hence, 
the long hours which he spent before it, for he 
preferred the sanctuary to his cell. He beheld 
our Divine Lord under the mystic veil, as if that 
veil had been withdrawn, and that he contem¬ 
plated Him face to face. Sometimes the tender¬ 
ness of his love burst forth in most passionate 
words, in amorous and inflamed expressions; at 
other times, bathed in tears, he sung canticles 
in praise of the Divine Object of his affections. 
In the choir while chaunting the office, he ad¬ 
dressed the fervent and inspired verses of the 
Psalms to his hidden Lord; and his devotion in 
celebrating the holy mysteries was so great that 
the assistants were sensibly affected by it. One 
day in presence of the viceroy of Peru, Don Louis 
de Velasco, who often served his mass, the Saint 
being vested and on the point of proceeding to 
the altar, was suddenly seized with such devotion 
and ecstatic love, that, unable to contain himself, 
he began to sing the praises of the Son of God. 
Don Louis was moved to tears at the sight, and 
when the rapture ceased served the mass as 
usual. 

As God never suffers Himself to be outdone 
in generosity, He was pleased to manifest by 
evident signs how pleasing to Him were the 
deeds of His holy servant. He was sometimes 
seen, when going to the altar, preceded by a 


264 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


brilliant light, which led him, as it were, to the 
sanctuary; at other times he became so enrap¬ 
tured during the sacred mysteries, that it was 
supposed he would not be able to finish them. 
The moment the holy sacrifice was terminated, he 
withdrew to his cell, lest any one should witness 
the favours he received from God. It chanced 
one day that the superior sent for him after 
mass, and the religious who went for him found 
him with his cheeks and cowl bedewed with 
tears, and his countenance shining with light and 
brightness. 

No wonder that when he was distinguished by 
such marks of the Divine favour, S. Francis was 
honoured by men, and placed by the superiors 
in office, despite of his great repugnance. In the 
year 1595, F. John of Monte Mayor, commissary 
of Peru, and then newly arrived from Spain, 
appointed him guardian of the convent of our 
Lady of Angels. This dignity was for him a new 
mortification, and to counterbalance the honour 
thereby conferred upon him, this holy man 
devised several new and humiliating practices. 
Sometimes he came into the refectory without 
his cowl, confessing that he was unworthy of 
wearing the habit of S. Francis. At other times 
he extended himself across the door of the choir, 
or again of the refectory, that the religious 
might step over him. Now he entered the re¬ 
fectory with a reed in his mouth, to show that 
he was, like it, dry, fragile, and empty of good 
works; and then he would rise up during the 
repast, and kiss the feet of the assembled reli¬ 
gious with profound self-abasement 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


265 


With this unfavourable opinion of himself, he 
entertained the highest esteem for his brethren. 
On one occasion he thus expressed himself to a 
religious in whom he had much confidence ; 
“ Never judge ill of any one, my brother; never 
be scandalized at anything, but what is evi¬ 
dently bad. If you see two religious conversing 
together, imagine that they are talking of some¬ 
thing pious, something divine, such as the great¬ 
ness of God. If you perceive them eat out of 
time, persuade yourself that they have special 
need of it. If you witness them walking pre¬ 
cipitately, think that they do so to appear con¬ 
temptible in the eyes of men, while their virtues 
exalt them in the eyes of God.” 

These charitable sentiments of the blessed 
Saint did not prevent his watching over his 
subjects, nor hinder him from correcting them 
when they deserved reproof. He so ardently de¬ 
sired their perfection, that perceiving them too 
intent on cultivating the trees in the garden, he 
had them rooted up, thereby to place his spir¬ 
itual children in the happy necessity of devoting 
themselves solely to prayer. He was greatly 
afflicted when the inhabitants of Lima caused a 
beautiful alley to be planted near the convent; 
fearing much that the concourse of seculars on 
that promenade should disturb the silence of the 
sweet convent of our Lady, and draw thither 
many visitors, who only serve, generally speaking, 
to dissipate the spirit of retreat and recollection 
in religious houses. This sentiment was so 
strong, that increasing his repugnance to the 


266 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


guardianship, he presented the resignation of 
his office with so many tears and sighs, that 
F. John Monte Mayor was obliged in pity to 
accept it. No doubt he had some idea of re¬ 
establishing him in this charge at the chapter 
held in March, 1598; but the Saint having inti¬ 
mation of it, fled to perform missionary duty 
for the time in a certain parish, although the 
heat was then so intense that he thought he 
should die on the road. When recalled by the 
superiors, he entreated them so earnestly that 
he obtained permission to retire to the convent 
of Truxillo, about eighty leagues from Lima. 


CHAPTER NIL 

ST. FRANCIS GOES TO TRUXILLO, AND THERE ASSISTS 
A POOR LEPROUS WOMAN. IIE PREDICTS THE RUIN 
OF THE CITY, WHICH EVENT FOLLOWS SOME TIME 
AFTER. 

A truly humble soul is a spectacle worthy of 
God. The Church has ever looked with venera¬ 
tion upon those who, from a feeling of self-con¬ 
tempt, fled from honours, and declares in her holy 
canons, that the first proof that one merits eccle¬ 
siastical dignities, is to be interiorly persuaded 
that he does not deserve them. 

St. Francis Solano was all through life im¬ 
pressed with this conviction, so that he was 
ever seeking legitimate reasons for being dispen- 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


2G7 


sed from charges and offices. But as superiors 
are obliged to place authority in the hands of 
those most fit to exercise it, they incessantly 
contradicted his humble repugnance, sometimes 
employing for that end motives of justice or of 
fitness, and sometimes again that of obedience, 
which to him was irresistible. The provincials 
seemed, as it were, the enemies of his repose ; 
for whenever a new commissary general arrived 
from Spain, which happened once in every six 
years, new contradictions awaited the humble 
Father Solano. 

Though F. Monte Mayor had set his heart on 
having our Saint elected provincial of the pro¬ 
vince of Lima, even from the time of his arrival, 
yet he was ultimately compelled to suffer him to 
retire to Truxillo, where all that F. Venido, the 
succeeding commissary, did to keep him in office, 
was to defer sending a guardian to the convent 
for a year or two, so as that Father Solano 
should be resident or superior in the interim,. 

We have already remarked on his great love 
for the poor, and detailed his charitable deeds in 
the hospitals. He continued this exercise with all 
possible assiduity at Truxillo. He was observed 
to go out sometimes with his sleeves filled with 
provisions, and to carry them to a poor woman 
afflicted with leprosy, who abode outside the city. 
In this distressed creature he beheld an image 
of our Lord, “ who was , as it were , a leper;' and 
imitated St. Francis, his holy father, who had a 
particular grace for succouring persons thus dis¬ 
eased by his sweet and charitable words and de- 


268 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


portment. In these pious practices he sometimes 
experienced as much consolation as in prayer, to 
which he was ever deeply applied. 

A religious, very distinguished in the province, 
having once retired after matins to a chapel of 
the choir, perceived F. Solano enter the church 
about three o’clock in the morning, where after 
remaining standing for about a quarter of an 
hour before the Blessed Sacrament, with his arms 
extended in form of a cross, he lovingly exclaimed, 
“Ah, Lord, who can be unfortunate enough to 
offend you! Who, my God, can determine to do 
that! ” Then prostrating on the ground, arms 
still extended, he remained there so long, that the 
religious, for fear of disturbing him, cautiously 
stole out of the church. F. Francis d’ Otalora, 
then provincial, declared before the commissaries 
of the holy see, that he learned at his visitation 
many things which caused F. Francis Solano to 
pass for a Saint, not only in the convent and city 
of Truxillo, but throughout the whole country. 

Among other singular favours which God 
bestowed upon his servant, there was that of 
prophesying the destruction of Truxillo. It hap¬ 
pened in this wise. In the year 1603, on the 11th 
day of December, while preaching the panegyric 
of St. Didacus, whose feast was on that day cele¬ 
brated in the church of the convent, after allu¬ 
ding to the crimes of his auditors, he felt himself 
suddenly inspired, and, like our divine Lord, who 
declared of Jerusalem, that one stone should not 
he left upon another, he declared that in punish¬ 
ment of their iniquities, their city should be 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


269 


destroyed, houses and inhabitants; that even of 
the church in which he was preaching, nothing 
should remain but the pulpit he then occupied. 

Terrified at this prediction, some of the people 
left Truxillo, among others Don Diego Sanchez, 
and his wife, Mary of Ortega; nor were they 
without cause to congratulate themselves upon 
following the Saint’s advice, for on the 14th of 
February, 1618, fifteen years subsequent to the 
prophecy, and eight years after the decease of 
St. Solano, Truxillo was totally destroyed by an 
earthquake; not a house remained standing, the 
churches and monasteries were involved in the 
general ruin, the very animals perished in their 
stalls, and of the inhabitants not one escaped the 
catastrophe. 

The anger of God was here indeed very appa¬ 
rent; for the rocks and mountains in the vicinity 
were so shaken, that large portions of stone 
becoming detached from them, fell with such 
violence as to crush many of the citizens, who 
took refuge upon the public road outside the 
devoted city. 

The principal biographer of our Saint says, 
that this awful visitation was occasioned by the 
sins of Truxillo, particularly its want of respect 
towards priests and religious, who are the spouses 
of Jesus Christ: but it belongs to the Divine 
Author of such fearful punishments to decide 
the cause, and it should be the part of sinful 
man to do nothing which would provoke His 
wrath and indignation. 

It only remains to say here, that so literally 


270 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


was the prophecy fulfilled, that the pulpit from 
which it was uttered remained intact, though the 
walls of the church tumbled, and the roof fell in. 
Mary d’ Ortega, who had left it, as we have said, 
unfortunately returned in consequence of the 
inconveniences which she had to endure at Lima, 
her new residence, and met the stroke with those 
who had taken no precaution, for she was suffo¬ 
cated by the dust, and perished with her slaves 
under the ruins of her old mansion. 

We here pass over several other predictions 
of the saint during his abode at Truxillo, as well 
as many extraordinary things which occurred to 
him in his service of the neighbours and conduct 
of souls, because they are of the same nature as 
the foregoing, or may incidentally fall in with the 
suite of our little history. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

ST. FRANCIS RETURNS TO LIMA, AND BY IIIS PREACH¬ 
ING LEADS THE INHABITANTS TO PENANCE. 

Supposing that having consented to the su¬ 
periority at Truxillo, S. Solano might be found as 
complying, should the guardianship of our Lady 
of Angels be again committed to him, the fathers 
of the province determined to impose upon him 
the honourable, but to him, onerous burden. He 
submitted, but held it only four months, during 
which short time he renounced it in form eleven 
times, so that they despaired of ever more seeing 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


271 


him in any charge. Before leaving this house 
for the principal convent of the order in Lima, he 
asked pardon of the religious for his bad example ; 
and having taken off his habit, besought them 
to give him the discipline, in expiation of his 
faults. He told them that he resigned his office, 
because he judged himself unworthy of govern¬ 
ing, and shed withal such abundance of tears, 
that the community shared in his deep emotion. 

It was while he held this last guardianship 
that the following incident took place: there 
are few such instances recorded in history. One 
evening in the month of December, in the year 
1604, after having prayed for some time with 
extraordinary fervour, he left the convent in¬ 
flamed with the fire of heavenly zeal, saying to 
the porter, “ Pray for me , brother , for I am going 
out to render God a great service.” Proceeding 
then to the most public part of the city, and 
having, as was his wont, assembled the people, 
he began to enlarge on the crimes committed 
within their walls; threatened them with the 
Divine wrath in terms so awful, exhorted them 
to penance by such powerful reasons, that the 
auditory were seized with extreme fright and 
consternation, and left the sermon, persuaded 
that if they did not at once appease the Divine 
indignation, Lima would be erased from the cities 
of the New World, before the next evening’s 
sun had set. 

Nor was this terror destined to be confined to 
the auditory. Dispersing homewards, they com¬ 
municated it throughout the city: men were seen 


272 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


running through the streets, exclaiming with 
affright, “ Father Solano has just announced that 
Lima will be destroyed this very night! ” So great 
was the importance attached to the words of the 
servant of God, that the emotion soon became 
general. From the streets the news passed to 
the houses, thence to the monasteries, so that the 
whole city was involved in confusion, every one 
relying on the holy man’s prediction, and there¬ 
fore desirous to make his confession. 

The churches were left open during the entire 
night; the holy Sacrament was exposed in almost 
every one of them; and the priests, after hav¬ 
ing set their own consciences in order, remained 
until next day reconciling to God those who 
presented themselves. Some who could not get 
near them from the crowds, confessed their sins 
aloud, that they might secure absolution; others 
struck their breasts, imploring the Divine mercy; 
more took the discipline with iron chains, and 
other sharp instruments; while a fourth bore on 
their shoulders into the church heavily laden 
crosses. Restitutions were made liberally; re¬ 
conciliations seemed to cost nothing; and if the 
poor had not been persuaded equally with the 
rich, that they should all perish that night, they 
might have collected treasures, heaps of wealth 
being left about as so much useless lumber. 

The sighs and groans uttered on that remark¬ 
able night are inconceivable; all ages, all sexes, 
all ranks and professions, deeming immediate 
ruin inevitable. There was no one found to gain¬ 
say or contradict the idea; but morning having 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


273 


dawned, the viceroy of Peru assembled the coun¬ 
cil, and the archbishop of Lima being in attend¬ 
ance, it was determined to make inquiry of St. 
Solano, through his superior, F. Venido, into the 
cause of his preaching in the terms he did, as 
well as upon the extraordinary results thereby 
produced. 

In compliance with his decree F. Venido sum¬ 
moned the Saint into his presence. On his way 
to the superior’s quarter, a religious, who was 
apprehensive that he should be reprimanded, ex¬ 
horted him not to be afraid; to which the holy 
man replied, “You must know, brother, that I 
preached by the command of God.” He found 
the father commissary assisted by several reli¬ 
gious and some of the principal inhabitants, and 
he declared to them that it was because the 
crimes of the inhabitants of Lima appeared to 
him very considerable, that he spoke of them so 
forcibly; that he simply applied his text, “All 
that is in the world is the concupiscence of the 
flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the 
pride of life,” (St. James ch. ii.,) to the state of 
the souls of his auditors, declaring that they were 
devoured by impurity, avarice, and pride ; that 
he used the comparison of a ruined city, to 
enlighten them as to the state into which they 
would fall; that he had forcibly exhorted them to 
anticipate it by prompt and sincere repentance: 
but as for the extraordinary consequences which 
followed, he had nothing to do with them ; they 
were produced by God. He afterwards repeated 
certain passages of his sermon to them, which 
19 


274 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


frightened them so much, that they since acknow¬ 
ledged their hair stood erect, so that is to be 
presumed, they saw at once it was the operation 
of God’s Spirit speaking by the mouth of His 
servant. 

The father commissary having caused him to 
sign a declaration to the foregoing effect, it was 
by the authority of the viceroy and archbishop 
published in all the churches, to quiet, if possible, 
the public mind, still possessed with the notion 
of impending destruction ; but in vain, the terror 
and alarm still continued, so that the king’s rep¬ 
resentative declared aloud, “Let us not trouble 
ourselves any further about this matter. It is the 
work of God, who employed this means to soften 
the obduracy of men’s hearts, and lead them to 
penance.” 

Different judgments were formed upon this 
surprising event. Some admired the force of the 
word of God in the mouth of a holy man; others 
marvelled that an entire congregation should 
take the allegorical for the literal sense ; while 
more conjectured that the Lord had caused the 
auditory to hear what He desired should move 
their hearts, and this without the advertence of 
the preacher, just as he caused the apostles to 
be understood on the Feast of Pentecost by men 
of all nations. However it may have been, much 
glory redounded to the Divine Majesty by this 
sermon. The people were so persuaded that 
death was nigh, that they indeed brought forth 
fruits worthy of true penance. Sins were dis¬ 
covered, hitherto concealed in confession. One 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


275 


woman acknowledged publicly that her sins alone 
were sufficient to engulf Lima, and that the 
very night in which the dread calamity was ex¬ 
pected, she had resolved to commit a crime too 
revolting to be named here ; and a child twelve 
years old confessed on that fearful night a tissue 
of crimes so abominable, that it would seem 
they could have been committed only by a devil 
in the guise of man. 

F. Augustine de Vega, since bishop of Para¬ 
guay, and then prior of the Dominican convent, 
had a procession of the most holy Sacrament, 
his religious meantime taking the discipline on 
this memorable occasion; and it was affirmed by 
F. Venido, that F. Solano preached by the im¬ 
pulse of the Holy Ghost, and that since the 
penance of Ninive, nothing was witnessed similar 
to what had then occurred at Lima. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

OTHER WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF THE PREACHING OF 
S. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

Evangelical preaching is now, thanks to God, 
so general, that several imagine it a thing easily 
effected; still it must be avowed, that there are 
few good preachers. We shall be convinced of 
this if we study the fruit produced. No doubt it 
is usual to cast the blame of the inutility of the 
word of God on the hearers; and, nevertheless, it 
is often because of the ignorance of the preachers, 



276 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


or of their little preparation for the holy ministry; 
or, in fine, because the auditory doubt much 
that they are of the number of those who say 
and do not. The illiterate and the lazy who 
exercise this sacred function, allege in excuse 
the simplicity of the apostolic preaching, which, 
plain and unadorned, converted thousands. Others 
compose sermons according to the rules of elo¬ 
quence, and descant on the most sublime maxims 
of Christianity, whilst it is well known they lead 
dissipated worldly lives, and think it is the same 
thing to speak well and to persuade efficaciously. 
But neither produce fruit; the former serving 
only as a subject of ridicule, the latter as one of 
obduracy and scandal. To do away with the 
pretext for carelessness, it should be remarked, 
that the simple discourses of persons eminent 
for virtue, effect great wonders only because the 
spirit of prayer supplies that preparation deri¬ 
ved by others from study. These friends of God 
frequently reflect on the practical truths of 
Christianity, produce in meditation ardent affec¬ 
tions, continually look to the Sovereign Good, 
and in this manner acquire all things necessary 
to constitute an excellent preacher; so that when 
required to speak in public, they are never taken 
unprepared, their mind and heart being habitu¬ 
ally filled with Christian truths and sentiments. 
And then virtue is one of the most influential 
means that an orator can employ to be useful to 
his auditory, the sentiments of a good man, as 
Aristotle says in his Rhetoric, serving as a law 
to those who hear him. 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


277 


S. Solano has done many things which it would 
not be expedient for us to do; but his piety jus¬ 
tified his conduct, and almost invariably were 
his labours crowned with success, a proof that 
he was inspired by God. For example: on feast 
days, without waiting to be asked to preach, he 
went out from the convent to the public squares, 
or to the corner of some street, and there draw¬ 
ing a crucifix from his sleeve, and devoutly 
raising it in the air, and looking upon it with 
eyes sparkling with love, or bathed in tears, he 
preached with so much force and tenderness, that 
sinners the most obdurate could not resist him. 
His wan and emaciated countenance led the 
most sensual to penance, his tears melted the 
most insensible, his words moved the most reso¬ 
lute in wickedness. Sometimes he would say, in 
a voice half stifled with sobs and groans, “ Sin¬ 
ners ! beware of offending a Saviour dead for love 
of us upon a cross! Adore Him, because Ho is 
Supreme Goodness, and never again crucify Him 
by your sins.” At other times he would say, 
“Ah, my brethren! love God, and never offend 
Him more, since our Love is dead upon a cross 
for us.” “Who would not love you, 0 my God, 
so worthy of love!” he would again repeatedly 
exclaim, looking upon the crucifix. 

Every one considered S. Francis Solano as 
another S. John Baptist. Rich and poor, soldiers 
and artisans, assembled around him when he 
commenced as above at any of the thoroughfares; 
and when, as it often happened, he recommenced 
or resumed his discourse elsewhere, they followed 


278 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


him in such crowds that the streets for the time 
became impassable. 

His virtue had gained him such liberty, that 
he was permitted to undertake all that he wished 
for the glory of God. When in passing through 
the city he heard that dancing and revelling 
were going forward in any particular house, he 
entered with his crucifix, and besought those who 
were thus enjoying themselves, not to forget the 
Saviour, who “having joy proposed unto Him, 
endured the cross, despising the shame.” He 
boldly went to those places where blasphemy 
and debauchery prevailed to a great extent, and 
there, with eyes flashing with holy zeal, and in a 
voice of thunder, he terrified and alarmed the 
unhappy inmates, so that they were glad to fly 
from the scene of their excesses. 

He often preached three or four times in the 
day, and, to his credit be it spoken, the acclama¬ 
tions of the crowds who followed him, so far from 
endangering, increased his humility. 


CHAPTER XV. 

OTHER EXERCISES OF S. FRANCIS SOLANO DURING 
IIIS LATTER YEARS. 

The care of governing and guiding others, is 
sometimes a cause of shipwreck to religious 
virtue; for though our Lord says that those who 
teach and do not shall be the last in the kingdom 
of heaven, many go no further, but for this neg- 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


279 


lect their own advancement, and stop short in 
the path of perfection, to acquire only what they 
fancy can render them useful to their neighbour. 
Not so S. Solano; although he effected many 
and remarkable things for the good of souls, he 
did far more for his own salvation. It could not 
be said of him, as of several others, “He saved 
others, himself he” did “not save.” 

To the last moment of his life he was most 
exact in the practice of religious virtues, so that 
although worn out by austerities, he was still an 
example in this matter to the religious of his 
convent of S. Francis at Lima. To the letter did 
he accomplish S. Paul’s counsel, “ Pray without 
intermission;” for his mind and heart were un¬ 
ceasingly fixed upon God. If sometimes obliged 
to occupy himself externally, he acquitted himself 
as the angels do, who, though ever employed in 
man’s service, never lose sight of God. He went 
to choir at eleven o’clock at night, and remained 
there till four in the morning, praying all the 
while with admirable fervour. Often, when the 
religious entered the holy place, to offer the first 
fruits of the day to the “Ancient of days,” to 
“the King of ages,” they found him so trans¬ 
ported with devotion, that his soul seemed to 
have left his body, and to have taken its flight 
to heaven. This was generally the case on the 
feasts of our Blessed Lord and our dear Lady, 
when he felt greater devotion. 

Some religious having besought him to say 
upon what matter he made his prayer, so as to 
occupy him so long, he replied, that from eleven 


280 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


o’clock until midnight he prepared to recite 
matins with the community, and that sacred 
duty ended, and the religious gone forth from the 
choir, he still remained thanking God for all His 
goodness. 0 what a sweet practice! one hour of 
preparation, and two hours of thanksgiving! The 
holy man experienced such sweetness in these 
pious exercises, that to perform them he sacrifi¬ 
ced his repose and health. If sometimes he felt 
quite overpowered with sleep, he strove to keep 
himself awake by extraordinary disciplines; be¬ 
sides which he imposed upon himself the prac¬ 
tice of two every night, one before going to 
choir, and the other after his prayer. To be 
more free at this latter exercise, he used to 
retire to the school in which theology was taught, 
and where there was a picture or image of St. 
Bonaventure in ecstasy before the crucifix, just 
as he was seen by St. Thomas of Aquin. 

It was commonly before this image that our 
Saint expressed his sentiments of devotion for the 
Seraphic Doctor. He called him his “ father,” 
his “doctor,” his “friend;” then addressing Jesus 
crucified, he besought Him with sighs and tears 
to inflame his heart with His divine love, that he 
might resemble St. Bonaventure; and to elevate 
himself to the similitude of Jesus suffering, he 
every night disciplined himself so severely that 
he left the pavement tinged with his blood. 

The sight of this blood was a moving lesson for 
the young theologians, inspiring, as it did, a love 
of virtue. God permitted, in order that he might 
draw them more powerfully to perfection, that 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


281 


some of them, who had hidden themselves for the 
purpose of observing him on those occasions, 
should see marvellous heavenly lights, which 
went in and out of the hall, and sometimes 
hovered about him; this was related to another 
religious, and the fact became known to the 
whole community. 

Indeed there was no religious at the time in 
the convent of St. Francis of Lima, who did not 
witness the virtues of the Saint quite as much 
as the extraordinary favours vouchsafed to him. 
Sometimes he was heard to exclaim in his cell 
quite transported, “Who art Thou, my God, and 
who am I! Thou art all, and I am nothing!” 
At other times he was heard to say a thousand 
sweet things to the Divine Infant Jesus. His 
heart obeyed all the movements which it pleased 
God to communicate; it took all the forms which 
He was pleased to give it. But divine love was 
his ruling passion, or rather his principal virtue, 
and left him so little at liberty, that you might 
often enter into the cell, where he commonly 
remained on his knees, and be neither seen or 
perceived by him, so much used he to be out of 
himself through ecstasies of love. One day, lean¬ 
ing against a pillar of the cloister, a rapture 
seized him while contemplating a picture of 
St. Francis, so that all passing that quarter 
were eye witnesses. 

A similar incident took place while preaching 
to the poor Clares on the Feast of the Visitation; 
for explaining the verse of the Magnificat, “My 
spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour,” he raised 


282 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


his eyes and spoke admirable things of the 
Eternal Word and the most holy Virgin. After 
repeating two or three times, “my spirit has 
rejoiced in God my Saviour,” his head drooped, 
and he remained a quarter of an hour in ecstasy, 
his hands resting immoveable upon the choir 
grate. Touched at the sight, the religious knelt 
to pray, until returning to himself, the Saint 
withdrew without continuing his discourse. 

It happened another time, that preaching in 
the convent, he could not finish his sermon be¬ 
cause of his tears, but these were more eloquent 
than words; attracting as they did the tears and 
groans of the auditors, and producing in them a 
true spirit of penance. 

But what should not his sermons do, when 
even his conversation sufficed to convert the 
greatest sinners, and to deliver persons from 
temptations the most violent ? A secular, having 
come to visit one of the religious, accidentally 
met St. Solano, who at once besought him to 
renounce a certain evil practice. The person 
denied it’strongly; but the Saint persevering in 
detailing the place and other circumstances of 
the intrigue, and moreover having warned him, 
that if he went out next night he would be 
assassinated, the wicked man, confounded at 
seeing that actions which he believed no one 
knew, were quite under the cognizance of the 
servant of God, fell upon his knees, and before 
leaving the convent made a good confession, and 
burst for ever the hellish chain that had hitherto 
bound him, 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


283 


On five or six different occasions, the Saint 
stopped at the city gates, awaiting the passage of 
certain persons whose names we could mention, 
if it were prudent, that he might tell them that 
they were then going to fight a duel, why, and 
against whom. The most violent in their wicked 
purpose yielded to his remonstrances: how could 
they resist when they saw that he read their very 
souls ? 

His words restored interior peace to two re¬ 
ligious of his convent at Lima, one of whom was 
annoyed for several years with a great disgust 
for his holy state, and the other, uncertain of his 
vocation, was inclined to leave the cloister. A. 
novice too was tormented with the same thought, 
and so unceasingly that it occupied him one day 
while serving our Saint’s mass. But 0! the good¬ 
ness of our God! He was pleased to manifest to 
S. Solano the interior of the poor youth, and the 
Saint took occasion at the Lavabo, or washing 
of the hands, to whisper to him, “ Take care, 
brother, of quitting the habit; obey not the voice 
of the devil, lest he deceive you.” The novice 
heard these words as an oracle, and no longer 
thought of renouncing his sacred purpose. 

One of the oldest preachers, a most venerable 
superior too, was cruelly annoyed by the devil, so 
that for seven years he had no cessation of hor¬ 
rible visions, which tormented the repose of his 
body and soul. Nothing relieved him; neither 
his own numerous pious exercises, nor the prayers 
of pious persons, contributed to his peace, God 
reserving, it would seem, this grace to S. Solano; 


284 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


for from the time that this religious discovered to 
him his inquietudes, received his advice, and had 
him to pray for him, he became perfectly tran¬ 
quil. Thus it was that the actions of S. Solano 
always tended to the Divine glory and the ad¬ 
vantage of his neighbours. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

WHAT ST. FRANCIS SOLANO DID AND SUFFERED IN THE 
INFIRMARY OF THE CONVENT OF LIMA. 

It is usual with the Saints to suffer much in 
old age because of the austerities they have put 
in practice, in order to subject the flesh to the 
spirit. Yes, arriving at their term, they seem, as 
it were, worn out and fatigued, sighing after and 
in want of the repose which awaits them. So it 
was with S. Solano; for during his last years his 
continual illnesses obliged them to give him a 
chamber in the infirmary of his convent at Lima. 
Still his love of suffering surpassing his strength, 
he continued his rigours: though the physicians 
would not venture to bleed him, because of his 
weakness, he took the discipline even to blood. 
He was prescribed good nourishment, and he 
could scarcely be prevailed on to eat a whole egg 
or a morsel of well-dressed meat. Even in the 
burning heat of fever, the approbation of his 
confessor was necessary to induce him to take 
a little water to cool his parched tongue. 

As he ate very little, he slept but little; often 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


285 


during the night was he discovered going on his 
bare knees round the cloisters of his monastery, 
shedding abundance of tears. In the day-time 
he regularly paid two visits to the other invalids, 
supplying their wants, making their beds, and 
rendering them the most painful and humiliating 
services. His fervour was so great that it left 
him no repose; for although weakness often 
obliged him to keep his bed, still he was used 
to be seized with such transports, that, unable 
to restrain himself, he got up, passed quickly 
from the infirmary to the cloister, and then to 
the different parts of the convent, pronouncing 
meantime words of devotion with such tender¬ 
ness, as to inflame the hearts of those religious 
who had the good fortune to come in his way. 

One day his physician coming to visit him 
in presence of some of the religious, and the 
conversation having turned upon the love of God, 
the sick saint felt so transported, that getting up 
hastily he left the chamber. The physician felt 
surprised and even annoyed at this action; but 
the good fathers appeased him, by saying that 
they were often obliged to abstain from speaking 
of God in the presence of F. Francis, because of 
the pious transports which seized him upon such 
occasions, and which always injured him corpo¬ 
rally. Having then gone in quest of him, they 
found him in the act of embracing a crucifix, but 
so weakened and powerless that it was necessary 
to carry him back to the infirmary. 

About a year before his decease an earthquake 
took place during the night, which terrified every 


286 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


one so much, that on the following day the Bless¬ 
ed Sacrament was exposed in all the churches. 
As the shocks were renewed while the people 
knelt in crowds in the Franciscan church, all took 
to flight, religious as well as seculars; but S. So¬ 
lano, who was there too, rising up obliged them to 
stay, and then spoke to them so movingly on the 
enormity of sin, the rigour of God’s judgments, 
and the necessity of preparing for them, that 
sighs and sobs were heard on all sides, the reli¬ 
gious weeping and lamenting as bitterly as the 
vilest sinner in the assembly. Thus the man of 
God, standing like another Aaron in the midst of 
those dead in sin, but who began to live to grace, 
effected their reconcilation with the Divine 
Majesty. 

This was one of the last of the remarkable 
sermons of S. Solano, but it was the one best 
remembered; for the religious testified long after 
that they were never so sensibly touched as upon 
that occasion. They said that the Saint’s coun¬ 
tenance became then so inflamed with zeal, that 
he no longer appeared sick; that his words were 
like burning arrows, penetrating all hearts; that 
it seemed as if the Holy Ghost had on that day 
chosen him to be the trumpet of penance; that 
he had changed the servile dread caused by the 
earthquake, into a filial fear and sincere contri¬ 
tion; and, finally, that no one could remember 
that day without being sensibly affected. 

Some time after this event, knowing that in 
consequence of his inability to preach, his books 
were no longer necessary to him, the Saint 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


287 


brought them to the F. Guardian, entreating 
that they might be distributed among the com¬ 
munity. To please him it was so done, at which 
the religious were right glad, every one of them 
being desirous to have something hitherto in the 
use of this great servant of God. 

As God purifies His elect to the very end, 
He ordained or permitted that some of the re¬ 
ligious should try the patience of S. Solano. It 
happened in this manner. A prudent and clever 
religious, who was sick in the same infirmary, 
seeing him one day enter, asked him in a choleric 
tone where he was going, adding that he need 
not expect to deceive him like others; that simple 
persons thought him a good man, but that he 
reckoned him a man of little sense, and less 
virtue. These words, which would have vexed 
a hypocrite, rejoiced our Saint; so acknowledg¬ 
ing that they were all true, he modestly retired. 
Another religious once came and said to him 
nearly the same words, adding that his manner 
of acting proceeded from intolerable pride, and 
a desire of being esteemed by all; to which S. 
Francis replied only by prostrating, kissing his 
feet, asking his pardon, thanking him for his 
good advice, and praying him to supplicate the 
Divine mercy on his behalf. 

He was quite used to suffer joyfully what pro¬ 
vokes others to anger. A religious, much younger 
than himself, one day said, on seeing him long at 
prayer, that he would do better to catechise the 
negroes and sailors on board the vessels: the 
Saint proceeded at once to perform that duty, 


288 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


whereat the religious was so much confused, that 
on the next day he went to make his apology. 

In sickness he was never heard to complain. 
Whether attended or forsaken, in heat or cold, 
with remedies or left to nature, he remained 
perfectly satisfied. His will was at all times 
quite conformable to that of God, and he had 
frequently in his lips the holy words, “ God bo 
praised. God be glorified in all things.” 


CHAPTER XVII. 

LAST ILLNESS AND SAINTLY DEATH OF THE BLESSED 
FRANCIS SOLANO. 

After so many pains and labours, the time at 
length arrived when God was to reward his ser¬ 
vant and to crown His gifts. He manifested to 
him his approaching death. His infirmities vast¬ 
ly increased for two months previous to that 
happy event; for, besides several other sufferings, 
he was taken with a violent fever, which contin¬ 
ued until his dissolution. But as he loved no¬ 
thing better than suffering, which assimilated 
him to the Lord Jesus, he no longer lived but 
by the life of Jesus, and considered with S. Paul 
death less as an evil than a gain. He blessed 
God for his pains and dolours, by which he said 
he chastised his enemy, meaning his body, to 
which he was accustomed to make taunts and 
reproaches. 

Though so much broken down and exhausted, 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


289 


it was wonderful to see how tranquilly he pos¬ 
sessed his spirit; night and day was he occupied 
in the contemplation of heavenly things, nor 
would he permit other discourse than of God. 
The joys of a future life formed his interior en¬ 
tertainment, for which end he had the devout 
meditations of F. Lewis of Granada read to him, 
and made suitable reflections upon each pas¬ 
sage for the space of a quarter of an hour, 
accompanying them with tears and pious ejacu¬ 
lations from the Psalms; as, “0 my soul, bless 
the Lord! I will bless the Lord during my life. 
0 my soul, bless the Lord.” 

One time he besought his companion to help 
him to praise God; then suddenly raising his 
voice he said, “0 my God, thou art my Creator! 
my King ! my Father! my Sweetness! my All!” 
and became so enraptured, that he looked im¬ 
moveable as a statue. A transport of devotion, 
wherewith he was seized on the Feast of the Holy 
Trinity, produced a contrary effect; for then, 
quite out of himself with the love of God, he 
left his bed and ran about the adjoining rooms 
exclaiming, “Let us bless the Father, and the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost!” 

On the night of Corpus Christi, his companion, 
having visited him, found him quite overjoyed, 
repeating several times the words of the Invi- 
tatory, “ Come, let us adore the Lord, let us pros¬ 
trate ourselves before Him.” Wishing to know 
how ho felt, he made his inquiries, but the 
Saint continuing to demonstrate excessive joy, 
besought him to retire, which he did instantly. 

20 


290 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


As the illness increased, it was proposed to 
him, fifteen days before his death, to receive the 
Holy Viaticum, to which he replied, “It is time, 
it is time to receive so good a Guest as our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Receive Him, my soul, let Him 
come at once.” His Divine Lord was brought to 
him, and he received Him in a manner that gave 
public edification. It being then said to him, 
that he might live to gain the Indulgence of 
Portiuncula, which occurs on the 2nd of August, 
he answered, “ I hope to gain that of my beloved 
Father S. Bonaventure, which occurs on the 14th 
of July.” Connecting this with what he sub¬ 
sequently said, that he would not pass the Feast 
of S. Bonaventure, it is presumed that he was 
aware of the time of his last passage. 

The religious, perceiving him daily approach 
his end, bewailed his loss; while he went on re¬ 
joicing at the prospect of future glory, manifest¬ 
ing to the end tranquillity of soul, interior peace, 
and an exterior joy, which could be nothing less 
than a gift of the Divine Spirit, and a foretaste 
of heaven. Some days before his decease, in 
imitation of S. Francis, he had read to him the 
Passion of our Lord according to S. John; and 
uniting his pains to those of his crucified Saviour, 
whose image was before him, he said, “ 0 faithful 
Friend, 0 true Father! be You blessed, be You 
infinitely glorified, for having, solely through 
charity, suffered death upon the cross for such a 
miserable wretch as me.” During the most af¬ 
fecting parts of the sad recital he sometimes 
remained, as it were, insensible, or he shed tor¬ 
rents of tears. 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


291 


On the 12th of July he received Extreme Unc¬ 
tion, for which he gratefully blessed God; then 
turning to the Father Guardian, he begged that he 
might be allowed to die naked on the bare ground, 
and that after his death they would give him for 
interment the poorest habit in the community, 
by way of alms. At this the religious redoubled 
their tears, but their grief considerably increased 
when the Saint himself wept bitterly, and asked 
pardon for his evil example. This action was 
followed by mutual requests and promises to be 
remembered after death; the rest of the day was 
spent in ejaculations which indicated his ardent 
desire of possessing his sovereign good. The 
following incident is somewhat remarkable; the 
religious and physicians were quite astonished at 
it. A few hours before his death the fever left 
him; his countenance of brown became white as 
snow, his face and hands plump and fleshy from 
being worn and emaciated, and his breath, dis¬ 
agreeable during his illness, sweet and pleasing. 

He passed the night preceding his death in an 
ecstasy so profound, that many thought he had 
expired; but he returned to himself, saying with 
the Psalmist, “I rejoiced at the things which were 
said unto me, We shall go into the house of the 
Lord.” At last his hour came. The religious 
who assisted him then recited the canonical 
hours, during which, every time they said the 
Gloria Patri, the holy man raised his eyes and 
hands to heaven; afterwards, in compliance with 
his desire, they chaunted some Psalms, and com¬ 
menced the Creed at his particular request; and 


292 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


just as they were pronouncing the words, “Et 
incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Vir- 
gine,” and the elevation bell of the high mass, 
then celebrating, tolled at that same moment in 
their ear, proclaiming that the adorable Incarnate 
Word again renewed the ineffable mystery of His 
love; our Saint immediately crossing his hands, 
and fixing his eyes on the crucifix, pronounced 
the holy words he was so often in the habit of 
uttering, “God be praised!” and gave up his soul 
to God, it being then eleven o’clock in the fore¬ 
noon of Wednesday, 14th July, the feast of S. 
Bonaventure, in the year of our redemption 1610. 

Convinced by many proofs of the sanctity of 
this true servant of God, the religious prostrated 
themselves, and casting themselves upon his 
sacred corpse, kissed his hands and feet; those 
who knew him published what his humility had 
hitherto obliged them to conceal, and all agreed 
in saying that to F. Solano nothing was wanting 
to make him a saint but the process of canoniza¬ 
tion. A flock of little birds, which during the 
preceding eight days had come to sing at his 
window every morning about four o’clock, just 
then renewed their sweet warbling, which was 
the more remarkable as it was then mid-winter 
in Lima. 

On the following night, about eleven o’clock, 
the poor Clares descried /rom their convent a 
pillar of fire, which, after resting some time over 
the infirmary at S. Francis, seemed to rise up 
even twelve times successively, and fall upon 
their monastery, as was attested by many of 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


293 


those nuns in the verbal process for the canoni¬ 
zation of our S. Solano. 0 how blessed is the 
death of the saints! 0 how truly desirable! 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

BURIAL OF S. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

The news of the happy passage of the man of« 
God being diffused through the city of Lima, 
such a concourse of her sons, of all conditions, 
crowded to the convent, that the religious were 
obliged to close the doors of the infirmary. Some 
kissed his feet, others touched them with their 
beads or rosaries, more cut out pieces of his 
tunic, so that it had to be renewed four timos 
during that day. On the next day the archbishop, 
accompanied by his chapter, went to the convent 
with the viceroy of Peru, then the Marquis de 
Montes Claros; and the religious of the different 
orders proceeded in a body, to render their pro¬ 
found respect to the servant of God. 

F. Venido, the commissary general of the 
Franciscans in Peru, having celebrated the Di¬ 
vine Sacrifice, F. John Sebastian, provincial of 
the Society of Jesus, delivered a most edifying 
panegyric on the Saint. The musicians of the 
cathedral chaunted the service, and all was per¬ 
formed in so august a style, that more could 
not have been done for the viceroy himself. 

The following account of this event, so glorious 
to religion, and so encouraging to all true ser- 



294 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


vants of God, was given by F. Alvarez de Paz, of 
the Society of Jesus, in the 2nd vol. of his Spiri¬ 
tual Works, in treating on Holy Poverty:— 
“In this present month of July, 1610, God 
abundantly recompensed Holy Poverty in this 
city of Lima. On the feast of S. Bonaventure, 
the Convent of Friars honours a deceased re¬ 
ligious named Francis Solano, priest, a native of 
Montillo in Andalusia. This man was remark¬ 
able for his sanctity, and a worthy son of the 
seraphic S. Francis. For forty years and over 
he professed the religious life, and this with 
great fervour, walking diligently in the ways of 
the Spirit. He was exceedingly humble, he fled 
from dignities and offices; was most patient, 
meek, obedient, pure beyond all description; in¬ 
flamed with paternal charity, often visiting the 
sick, and occupying himself in other good works. 
He was devoured with zeal for the glory of 
God and the salvation of souls, and his sermons, 
which, according to the world’s notions, were 
neither adorned nor eloquent, converted num¬ 
bers from sin, and powerfully induced them to 
practise virtue. He loved solitude; and if the 
Divine honour did not require the contrary, he 
could have almost buried himself alive. Alone 
with God, he was quite occupied in the contem¬ 
plation of heavenly things, in which he was 
favoured with frequent raptures and ecstasies. 
These consolations, to which he was accustomed, 
caused him to pass nights without sleep on the 
altar step; there he cliaunted psalms to the most 
holy Sacrament, and played on the harp to the 




ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


295 


honour of Him for whom the twenty-four elders 
in the beatific vision of Him tune their lyres, 
tasting ineffable bliss. No wonder that, possess¬ 
ing these true riches, he for the love of Jesus 
Christ so passionately loved poverty. So enrap¬ 
tured was he with this virtue, that satisfied with 
a habit and a poor tunic, he scarcely took what 
was necessary to support his weak and infirm 
body. He was the enemy, or rather the true 
friend of his flesh, for he preferred, by chasten¬ 
ing it by vigils and fastings, to preserve it to 
eternal life, rather than to endanger it by ease 
and indulgence. Indeed, his whole life was but 
one most holy and meritorious action, or a most 
fervent and unceasing prayer, filled with the 
lights and consolations of heaven. 

“On the day of his interment, so great was 
the concourse assembled for the celebration of 
the obsequies, that never have I witnessed any¬ 
thing like to it in this kingdom. Rich and poor 
flocked to the church; and the uninvited too, for 
who could think of bidding a whole city to the 
funeral of a poor religious ? for all were anxious 
to see and venerate the “ Saint.” The religious 
also came there from the several monasteries, not 
in a limited number of six or eight, as was cus¬ 
tomary, but in crowds almost; God, I believe, so 
ordaining, not only that the services might be 
more respectably performed, but in order that 
several might be more incited to perfection, as 
eventually happened. I went there too, and ar¬ 
rived just as they were bearing the venerable 
remains to the church. I acknowledged to a 


296 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


religious of the order, who could scarcely get 
through the crowd, my amazement at what I 
witnessed; persons of no less distinction than the 
archbishop of the city and the viceroy of Peru 
were the first bearers of the poor bier, assisted 
by the superiors of the regular orders, and the 
other persons most considerable for learning and 
dignity. Though very unworthy, I joined them, 
strongly reminded of the words of holy David, 
‘Thy friends, 0 God, are exceedingly honourable;’ 
and again, those others of holy writ, ‘Thus should 
he be honoured whom the king wishes to honour.’ 

“After having with much difficulty reached 
the church, and laid down the bier in the place 
appropriated for it, we began to look upon that 
body so poorly clothed, which had been the 
abode of so holy a soul. I devoutly kissed the 
hands and feet, which I found flexible and mode¬ 
rately warm, so that it seemed to me I touched 
not a corpse, but the body of a man sleeping. 
Assembled in great numbers about it, we felt 
more inclined to rejoice than to be sad, and were 
by no means disposed to pray for him, but rather 
to glorify God in His Saints, feeling that F. 
Solano had now entered into his rest. There 
was nothing of that unpleasant odour emitted by 
corpses, nor was there any symptom of decay; 
but it seemed as if the venerable remains in¬ 
spired admirable tranquillity and peace into the 
hearts of all. The viceroy had his cushion, made 
of silk and gold, placed under the head of the 
saintly deceased, and caused the sack which had 
served him for a pillow, to be placed upon his 




ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


297 


chair of state during the whole office, judging 
that he thus made a better use of his royal 
dignity. In using his cushion he would have 
acted only as viceroy of a mortal prince; but in 
honouring the wretched sack he honoured Jesus 
Christ in His poor servant, and appeared most 
Christian and most devout. 

“ The office, mass, and funeral oration being 
finished, we proceeded to bear the corpse to the 
place of burial, which was prepared under the 
steps of the high altar; but we could scarcely 
get near it for the vast assemblage pressing on 
all sides, to venerate the deceased, or touch him 
with their chaplets, and other things. By the 
assistance of the guards of the viceroy we at 
length succeeded, and the interment was com¬ 
pleted a little after mid-day. 

“ On the following night his excellency had 
the blessed corpse exhumed, to have the portrait 
taken, when the limner, as he told me, found 
it still flexible, as if the father were in a slum¬ 
ber ; a most pleasing odour too was inhaled at 
the same time. We piously believe that his soul 
enjoys great glory now with God, and hope that 
time, which effaces all things, will never erase the 
memory of his virtues from the minds of men.” 

So far father Alvarez de Paz. 


298 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

MIRACLES AND PREDICTIONS OF S. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

The miraculous effects of the omnipotence, 
wisdom, and love of God communicated to men, 
are the most convincing proofs of their sanctity. 
It is upon these testimonies that the Church 
principally founds her decrees authorizing their 
public devotion. 

We have already related how our Saint learned 
the Indian language in a comparatively short 
time; but we have here to add, that no sooner 
had he arrived in the vast regions of la Plata, 
than preaching publicly in Spanish, God recom¬ 
pensed his zeal by causing him to be understood 
by all the people, and so much to their wonder 
and amazement, that they at once received his 
doctrine, seeing most plainly that it emanated 
from the God of truth. 

The Saint was equally successful when speak¬ 
ing to them individually. One day, seeing an 
Indian in his agony, he commanded him to tell 
him his last desires, and this in his own language. 
The dying savage understood him, and declared 
in his mother tongue that he wished to be in¬ 
structed in the Christian doctrine, and to receive 
baptism. The principal articles of our holy faith 
were at once communicated to him, and next 
baptism, and immediately after the happy man 
resigned his soul in peace. This miracle was, 
so to speak, reciprocal, the Saint not knowing 
the Indian language nor the Indian our Spanish. 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


299 


Another converted Indian came to ask the 
Saint to bury his dead son ; the holy man went 
at once to his cabin, and finding the son per¬ 
fectly well, reproached the parents with mock¬ 
ing him. In apology they maintained that he 
really was dead when they sent; and S. Francis, 
offering no further remark, the assistants pub¬ 
lished in all places that the young Indian had 
been resuscitated by him. 

In journeying through the vast provinces of 
India to extend the kingdom of Christ, our Saint 
came one day to the bank of a river, as deep 
as it was rapid ; and having no means to cross, 
he raised his eyes to heaven, then extending 
his cloak upon the waters, supported by faith, 
he passed over in the sight and to the great 
astonishment of the Indian spectators. 

A shower of locusts having alighted on a field 
of wheat, the Saint, called upon to banish them, 
recited the prayers in the Ritual, and then 
sprinkling the place with holy water, commanded 
the locusts to retire to the neighbouring moun¬ 
tains, where the infidel inhabitants eat this sort 
of insect. The command was instantly obeyed. 

The Saint predicted to a young man that he 
would one day be a Jesuit ; the event verified 
the prediction; he did enter the holy Society of 
Jesus, and ever preserved great veneration and 
respect for God’s holy servant. On one occa¬ 
sion he came to recommend his sick father to 
the Saint’s prayers. Knowing his design by re¬ 
velation, the holy man anticipated him, by say- 


300 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


ing gaily, “Your father is very sick, but not unto 
death,” and so it turned out. 

A religious of the Order of Mercy having gone 
to solicit S. Solano in behalf of his vicar general, 
then at the point of death, he anticipated him 
in like manner; for going to meet him, he said, 
“Tell the father vicar he will soon be able to 
leave his bed.” Many other things did he 
predict to the same religious, all of which being 
verified by the event, he clearly knew that S. 
Francis Solano possessed the gift of prophecy. 

Mary d’ Ortega, having a son who wished to 
become an Augustinian against her will, came 
for consolation to S. Solano. He assured her 
that her son would indeed be a religious, but 
not of the order of S. Augustine. Reassured by 
this she went home, when she found her child 
determined on taking the habit of S. Francis. 
He eventually did so, under the name of Brother 
Luke Sancius. 

Doctor J. Velasquez, archdeacon of Lima, being 
grievously ill, was restored to health by our Saint 
laying his hands upon him and reciting a gospel; 
and by similar means was effected the cure of 
Miche de Bellila, though so ill that the physicians 
thought he had not four hours to live. 

Ecstasies cannot be described, even by those 
who experience them. Reason, almost blind 
in these miraculous transports, pretends to be¬ 
lieve that they arise from so great an attach¬ 
ment of the mind in considering an object infi¬ 
nitely beautiful, and of the will in loving it, that 
the animal spirits, quite absorbed in this contem- 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


301 


plation and love, cease to act upon tho organs 
of our senses, and leave them in a state of 
inaction, which causes the body to become im¬ 
moveable. But when the spirit is quite led by 
the imagination, it is filled with the beloved 
object, and the desire to unite itself to it; then 
there ensues an extraordinary transport, which 
elevates the body as well as the soul, and causes 
it to run, as it were, to the enrapturing object, 
which in these moments communicates itself 
supernaturally. These sorts of ecstasies fre¬ 
quently happened to our Saint, as has been 
already mentioned. When these wonderful fa¬ 
vours are accompanied by profound humility, 
it cannot be doubted that they are great marks 
of perfect sanctity. It was so with S. Solano. 
Returning to himself he said to the eye-wit¬ 
nesses, that he was unworthy that the earth 
should support him, or that God should bear 
with him. 


CHAPTER XX. 

MIRACLES WROUGHT AT THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF 
S. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

On the day our Saint died, all the sick monks 
in the infirmary of the great convent of Lima 
were cured of their different maladies. Two 
fathers who were ailing, but not in tho infir¬ 
mary, became well too; the one by kissing the 
hands, and the other by touching the blessed re- 



302 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


mains. All who implored the intercession of the 
Saint, whether by simple prayer, or kissing his 
feet or hands, or applying something to the 
afflicted part which had touched his body, were 
relieved from their infirmities. 

Christopher Vivas and Anne of Prado were 
thus cured of asthma; three others were relieved 
from fever ; a young girl’s paralysed arm was 
restored ; and a man who had a tumour in the 
stomach was completely cured. 

Mary Guttierz, afflicted with the evil, was 
made whole by applying to her neck some scraps 
which she had cut from the Saint’s tunic; but 
denying the miracle through criminal shame, 
when questioned by the apostolical judges, her 
malady returned. Obliged to recur once more 
to the holy Saint, she did so, promising, if heard, 
to disclose both favours ; she was graciously lis¬ 
tened to, and deposed to the foregoing fact, as 
well as a friend, who alone knew of her repeated 
infirmity and recovery. 

Those who despised the relics of the Saint 
were punished by God as much as those who 
revered him were rewarded. Behold an exam¬ 
ple : Michael Gomez mocked those who went 
to visit the Saint’s remains, and showed his con¬ 
tempt for them; but on the following night 
he became greatly disquieted, so that he was, as 
it were, obliged to go and kiss his blessed feet, 
but doing it unwillingly, he derived no relief; 
and returning to bed, the venerable figure of the* 
Saint appeared before him, saying, “ Why, being 
but dust and ashes thyself, hast thou disgust for 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


303 


my feet? beware lest some evil happen to theer.” 
The following day he lost the use of his limbs, 
and his mouth became crooked. Recognizing 
the Divine wrath, Michael avowed his fault most 
penitently, and having procured the relics of the 
Saint, and touching them with due respect, he 
was at once partially cured, and finally fully 
delivered from his malady. 

Seven other persons, four of them religious of 
various orders, were cured of their several infir¬ 
mities by recurring to the Saint. Two days after 
his death a young girl was resuscitated as soon 
as the cowl of S. Solano was laid upon her 
corpse. 

F. Lewis of Guadaloupe, a Dominican, who had 
almost lost his sight, applied his eyes to a chap¬ 
let which had touched our Saint’s relics ; but 
feeling no relief he prayed thus: “ 0 Father 
Francis Solano, if you desire to convince me of 
your sanctity, published by all, obtain my cure.” 
Instant restoration of his sight followed this 
petition. 

A slave of Mary de Salas had his sight restored 
by clay taken from the sepulchre, spread upon his 
eyes after being moistened with water. Cathe¬ 
rine de Virgo was cured of a like malady by a 
fragment of his tunic being laid upon her eyes. 

Another priest was cured of an ulcer by rub¬ 
bing it with the oil of a lamp lighted before the 
blessed corpse of S. Solano. Many other details 
of miracles are omitted, thirty other persons 
being cured most miraculously on the days of his 
death and burial. 


304 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

INFORMATION REGARDING THE VIRTUES AND MIRACLES 
OF S. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

The Franciscan Fathers of the province of 
Lima having charged one of their religious to 
collect the wonders attending the life and death 
of their saintly brother, the magistrates of the 
city deputed a procurator to assist him, while 
as yet the witnesses retained a clear remem¬ 
brance of the facts. By the exertions of these 
men, three hundred and four witnesses, some of 
whom were very distinguished, as the Marquis 
of Monte Claros, and five provincials of reli¬ 
gious orders, gave evidence in the cause before 
the archbishop of Lima and his suffragans. 
Z 11 filar proceedings took place before the pre¬ 
lates of Seville, Granada, Cordova, and Malaga, 
in which dioceses S. Solano abode before pass¬ 
ing to the Indies. Ten years were employed in 
this, after which the general of the order laid 
them before his Holiness Urban VIII., who by 
a decree, dated February 1st, 1625, permitted 
that the special informations should be proceed¬ 
ed with. 

The death of the archbishop of Lima retarded 
the execution of the pontifical order for three 
years; but, to the great joy of the inhabitants, the 
magistrates of Lima published by sound of trum¬ 
pet on the day it was received, that they should 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


305 


illuminate their windows on that night, and at¬ 
tend at the cathedral next morning to hear the 
apostolical rescript promulged. Fire-works and 
ringing of bells and music testified the people’s 
delight on the joyous occasion, and on the next 
morning the dean of the cathedral, the see being 
still vacant, having received from the commissary 
of the Franciscans in the New World the decree 
of the Pope, kissed it, placed it on his head in 
token of respect; and proceeding to the church 
with all the ecclesiastical bodies in procession, 
at the offertory of the mass of the Holy Ghost, 
which the dean himself celebrated, the decree 
was read, and the order of the apostolical com¬ 
missaries for all to come and reveal what they 
knew of the virtues and miracles of Father So¬ 
lano. The mass was then finished, and the To 
Deum solemnly chaunted. We will not attempt 
to describe the rich decorations and triumphal 
arches provided by the people on the occasi>e.” 
suffice it to say, that the Spaniards, who then 
filled Lima, are most magnificent in all that 
concerns religion. 

Deeming the beatification of F. Francis most 
certain, the ocular witnesses of his virtues and 
miracles met and unanimously selected him as 
the Protector of Lima. Several other cities fol¬ 
lowed this example, as Salinas, Panama, Cartha- 
gena, Cusco, Potozi, De la Plata, and others. The 
captains of the Spanish fleet, sailing homeward 
from Peru, laden with vast treasure, did the same 
in consequence of the following incident. Being 
alarmed on the voyage, the general of the gal- 
21 


306 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


leons, Don Bernardine de Mendoza, prayed the 
religious who bore the informations in the cause 
of S. Solano to Rome, to unfold the portrait 
which he had with him, that all on board might 
invoke the Saint’s intercession. It was so done ; 
the picture was fastened to the mast, and at once 
a favourable wind arose, which continued for 
several days. A calm ensuing a second and a 
third time, the crew as often recurred to the holy 
man, and with the same success, so that they 
happily reached Panama, and the general, with 
the consent of all the officers, chose him, S. 
Francis, for patron of the Spanish fleets in those 
seas. On landing, they celebrated a feast by 
way of thanksgiving, with a procession and expo¬ 
sition of the Blessed Sacrament, high mass, and 
a sermon recounting the favour, and from that 
time the viceroy of Peru never suffered the fleet 
to sail for Spain without his visiting the tomb 
of S. Solano, and placing it under his protection. 
To obtain the same favour for his family, he 
dedicated to him his eldest son, aged ten years, 
and led him to make a visit to the holy man’s 
sepulchre, when the boy first crossed the pre¬ 
cincts of the palace. The people of Panama 
became so devout on this occasion to F. Francis, 
that for a whole month the cathedral remained 
open in consequence of the number of sick car¬ 
ried there from all parts, many of whom returned 
home healed through his intercession. 

Omitting an almost infinite number of miracles 
wrought by the Lord by means of His servant, 
during the process for his beatification, I shall 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


307 


mention but the following:—On the 8th Novem¬ 
ber, 1639, Mary of Monroi, aged five years, being 
killed and her body greatly crushed by a fall 
from a very high window, her mother, while some 
were endeavouring to console her for the sad ac¬ 
cident, chanced to cast her eyes on a picture of 
St. Solano, which was before her bed; and con¬ 
ceiving a hope that he would assist her, she 
anointed the face of her dead child with some of 
the oil from the lamps which burned before the 
sepulchre of the venerable man, when the little 
girl arose, and waking from the sleep of death 
sound and whole, pronounced the words, “Jesus, 
be with me.” 


CHAPTER XXII. 

DELAY OF THE BEATIFICATION. 

It was with a zeal and ardour quite incredible 
that all the towns and cities in the New World 
longed for the beatification of F. Solano, be¬ 
lieving it equally nigh as certain. Meantime 
they increased their devotion to him, and heaven 
seemed to give it its sanction by continual mira¬ 
cles. An entire volume would be required to 
detail these, so that some of the Indians believing 
they could not too strongly express their grati¬ 
tude to their benefactor, offered lamps at his 
tomb, which were kept lighted day and night; 
others attached to it tablets or pictures repre¬ 
senting the favours received; while more made 
pilgrimages to it. 



308 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


The body of the servant of God being trans¬ 
ferred from its primitive coffin, or encasement, to 
a shrine of cedar wood, the Lady of Don George 
Manrique de Lara, Knight of the Order of St. 
James, penetrated with gratitude for favours 
received during the life-time of the Father, 
caused a magnificent chapel to be built in the 
Franciscan church of Lima richly ornamented, 
and furnished with three niches, the centre one 
of which was destined for the precious remains, 
together with a shrine splendidly adorned as soon 
as the bull of the beatification should be re¬ 
ceived. 

But about this time Urban VIII., by a brief of 
the 5th of July, 1634, forbade all further proceed¬ 
ings in the cause of the servants of God, whose 
beatification was then solicited from the holy see, 
until all the lamps and other marks of the 
popular devotion were removed from their sepul¬ 
chres. This brief originated in a desire to rectify 
the conduct of the people, who are by no means 
authorized to offer public devotion to any one, 
however saintly and holy. The Indians could 
not believe that this rescript at all concerned 
F. Solano, so persuaded were they of his sanctity, 
as his virtues and miracles had been reported 
to them, and moreover that they were every 
day receiving new favours ; so the Francisans 
were not able to stop the course of their piety. 
Twenty years elapsed before the Indians would 
listen to reason, but they were finally obliged to 
obey the holy see; and to keep them to it, the 
sacred body was taken from before their eyes, 



ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


309 


and deposited in the chapel of the Infirmary 
without any mark of distinction in the year 1656, 
and all the lamps were laid up in the sacristy, 
until the pontifical decree authorizing their use 
should be granted. 

Matters remained thus until the year 1664, 
when the proceedings were resumed. Finally, in 
1674, on the 25th September, Clement X., after 
all the numerous preliminaries, issued a brief, 
purporting that F. Francis de Solano was proved 
after due examination to have possessed in 
an heroic degree all the moral and theological 
virtues ; and declared that miracles had been 
wrought by his intercession, particularly two, the 
cure of Didacus de Savedra of an inveterate 
ulcer, and of John Viafara, who, being at the 
point of death from a pulmonic disease, declared 
that it was certain that this servant of God 
deserved to be canonized. It was decreed, that 
it was most secure to declare him blessed, and 
to permit to his order, and in his birth-place, 
the recital of his office, with the mass of a con¬ 
fessor ; but that meantime this should be solicit¬ 
ed of God by prayers and sacrifices, as tending 
to the consolation of the faithful and the honour 
of the holy Catholic Church. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION OF ST. F. SOLANO. 

After public prayers and sacrifices for the 
space of five months, to obtain light from on high, 






310 


ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 


liis Holiness Clement X., by a solemn bull, dated 
24th January, 1675, that the venerable servant of 
God, Francis Solano, should be called Blessed, 
that his relics should be exposed and venerated, 
and his pictures ornamented with rays of glory, 
and that his office and mass should be celebrated 
as aforesaid. 

Great was the joy of the Indians, we may well 
suppose, on this occasion, and anxious were they 
to transfer the blessed body to the place pre¬ 
pared for it. They now indemnified themselves 
for the delay of their hopes by signal marks of 
piety and magnificence. 

To increase their delight, their holy patron 
was solemnly canonized by Benedict XIII., on 
the 27th December, 1726. May he intercede for 
us with the most Holy Trinity, to whom be glory 
for ever! 


THE END, 


RICHARDSON AND SON, DERBY. 




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